Your Lies are Art 2
by CozyKitsune
Summary: Lila and Nathanael are together now and you would think that means happy days but unfortunately, life is far from easier, Join them as they face even more challenges and think to themselves will we ever catch a break?
1. 1,000 Ships

**Disclaimer: The characters in this story are not mine (excluding a few OC's) any character not created by me credit goes to Zagtoon, That being said the writing is all my own so please don't steal or copy, thank you. All chapter titles taken from Rachel Platten song titles.**

* * *

 **So, I'm back with the sequel to Your Lies are Art, sorry it took so long. If you haven't read the first it would be more helpful if you did to understand this one, but I mean it's not a law that you have to. There is some Italian written down in this and obviously, I must warn you that it could be inaccurate as I used Google translate. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the first chapter ;D.**

* * *

Nathanael let out a sigh and lay his head on the table. Rose and Juleka glanced across the room at him before looking at each other. "He's been like all day, the poor darling" Rose said.

"All day! More like for the past three weeks!" Juleka hissed.

"Juleka, be nice!" Rose frowned.

Juleka put her arms on the desk "Sorry…it's just…he's so mopey lately!" she quietly grumbled.

"He misses Lila, it's only understandable," Rose said, she glanced back over at Nathanael who was sitting upright again and staring out the window with sad blue eyes not listening to a word Miss Bustier was saying. Rose gave a soft smile to Juleka "Wouldn't you be like Nathanael if I wasn't here?"

Juleka blushed "Of course I would miss you…but I wouldn't annoy everyone else about it!"

"Juleka" Rose chided.

"What? He's acting like she's dead!" Juleka said folding her arms "She's only in Italy, she'll be back in like…I don't know, three days"

Rose giggled "Well, until then you've got to be nice and put up with Nathanael's moodiness, okay" Juleka nodded as Rose smiled. Then the bell rang for the end of school. Its rings echoed through the corridors as Children rushed out of their classrooms like a herd of stampeding bulls as the pushed each other in a hurry to get out of school.

Nathanael did not rush as he packed away his things slowly. Lost so far in his own thoughts that he did not notice Rose coming to stand alongside him. "Nathanael," she said, shocking him out of his thoughts. He jumped a little and looked at her with wide blinking eyes. She looked at him in concern "You okay?" He nodded "Uh yeah, sorry...you just surprised me…I was lost in my thoughts"

Rose giggled "I could tell"

"You two coming?" Juleka called from beside the door.

"Yes, wait up," Rose said, walking down towards Juleka.

Nathanael stood up and followed behind slowly.

As the trio walked down the school steps in silence, the crowds of hyper teenagers mostly gone Rose decided to speak. "So, Nathanael have you heard any word from Lila?" She caught Juleka giving her an annoyed glare over Nathanael's head. She ignored her. Nathanael glanced at Rose "Yeah, we text each other every night, sometimes if we have time we video call each other"

"So is she enjoying Italy?" Rose asked.

"I don't think anyone would enjoy going back home because their grandad died" Nathanael responded bluntly.

Rose and Juleka's eyes widened at Nathanael's bluntness. He caught their stares and a small blush dusted his cheeks in embarrassment. "Er, sorry, I didn't mean to be rude…I just miss Lila…Ignore me" Juleka cast a look at Rose that said _'Look what you've started now'_ Rose once again ignored her.

"No, It's okay, it was kind of a silly question," Rose said with a sheepish smile. Nathanael said nothing as he stared at the ground. An awkward silence hung over them like a dark cloud before Rose couldn't take it anymore and decided to ask another question. "When's she coming back to Paris?" Rose asked "Lila, I mean…"

Nathanael brightened up. "She said she should be back sometime this week."

"That's great!" Rose said with a smile.

"Thank God" Juleka muttered to herself.

Nathanael glanced at Juleka "Did you say something?" Rose cast a warning glare in her direction. "Oh, I just said that…that's good news"

Nathanael smiled "Yeah it is"

"Well, this calls for Ice cream!" Rose said as she skipped ahead. "You say that about every happy thing!" Nathanael smirked. "Because Ice cream makes everything even better!" Rose called back. Juleka and Nathanael rolled their eyes and grinned as they followed Rose.

* * *

Nathanael walked into the apartment, setting his satchel down by the stairs. "Nath, Is that you?" His mum called from the kitchen. "Yeah, who else would it be?" Nathanael said as he entered the Kitchen. "Might have been your Grandpa over for a visit" Miss Kurtzberg replied from her seat over at the table.

Nathanael nodded and headed to the cupboard to get something to eat. His Mum watched him "Do you ever stop eating?" He glanced over his shoulder with a glare "I'm hungry!"

"Then make something filling instead of eating snacks all the time," His mum said. Nathanael grumbled to himself as he closed the cupboard door "I'm not hungry anymore" he headed towards the door when his Mum called him back. "Nathanael!"

He looked at her "What?"

"How was school?" She asked.

Nathanael shrugged "I dunno, the same as always"

His mum raised an eyebrow and then slowly a smirk appeared on her face "So you're not missing Lila?"

Nathanael felt his face heat up "That's none of your business!" he snapped

"Nathanael!" she scolded. Nathanael just glared at her before heading out of the kitchen towards the stairs. She rolled her eyes "teenagers" she muttered.

He went into his room and took his phone from his pocket and saw he had recently got a text from Lila. He went into the messages.

 _Rossifox: Are u able to video chat later on tonight?_

Nathanael smiled as he typed out a message.

 _SuperNath: Yeah._

He sent the message and put his phone on his desk when his mum called him.

He headed out of his room to see what she wanted. "What is it?"

"I'm heading off to work now but there is some microwaveable food there so make sure to eat something, Okay?" Adina said, her forehead creased as she looked at Nathanael.

"Yeah, yeah" Nathanael muttered "I'll eat something don't worry"

"Good," She said "Now I'm off, bye" she quickly ruffled Nathanael's hair despite his glare of annoyance and headed off.

He headed back to his room and picked up his phone and checked to see if Lila had messaged back and she had.

 _Rossifox: Great, I have news! 3_

Nathanael's eyes widened and he raised an eyebrow wondering what the news was.

' _I'll go get some food and then I'll find out'_ He thought as he felt his belly ache from hunger. He headed down to the kitchen.

Later that Night Nathanael was laying on his bed as he video called his girlfriend.

" _Hey, Nathy,"_ Said Lila through the phone screen _,_ she was wearing a red tank top and probably ready to go to sleep,

"Hi, Lila," Nathanael said. "So how's Italy?"

Lila gave a half-smile _"It still feels weird without Nonno but me and my cousins spent most of the day down at the beach so things are slowly getting back to normal…well as normal as it can be"_

Nathanael nodded "That's good"

" _What about Paris? Anything exciting happening?"_ Lila asked.

Nathanael laughed "No, just the usual…last night there was some Akuma that called themselves the phantom thief"

Lila laughed _"Let me guess he was trying to steal stuff"_

Nathanael grinned "yeah, some big diamond that was being shown at some rich man's house and he tried to take it but Chat Noir stopped him, quite easily and then he contacted Ladybug who came later to purify the Akuma"

Lila nodded _"So the same old story"_

"Pretty much," Nathanael said.

" _Lil-Lil leggimi la favola della buonanotte"_ (Lil-Lil read me a bedtime story) one of her little cousins said as he came into her room. He had dark brown hair and warm brown eyes.

" _Non posso in questo momento, Leo, sto parlando con Nathanael"_ (I cannot right now, Leo, I'm talking to Nathanael.) Lila replied.

" _Vieni e salut"_ (Come and say hello.)she said, signalling for him to come up on the bed to say hello.

Leonardo came over carrying his picture book and clambered up onto the bed. He looked at the phone and shyly waved _"salve"_ (Hello.)

"Er…Salve?" Nathanael replied not fluent in Italian.

Lila giggled _"we got to teach you Italian, Bello"_ she softly running her fingers through Leonardo's hair as he sat listening to them.

Nathanael laughed. "So you said you have news, anything exciting?"

Lila's eyes lit up as her mouth curved into a smile _"Oh yeah! I nearly forgot!"_ she laughed.

Nathanael smiled and waited to hear the news.

" _Okay, so I may as well just say it…I'm coming back to Paris on Saturday!"_

Nathanael's eyes widened in surprise and he grinned "Really! This Saturday?"

Lila nodded as she smiled _._

"That's great! I never expected you to be back so soon though…" Nathanael said.

" _Yeah, Nonna said I could stay as long as I want but to be honest it's no fun without you"_ Lila blushed _"I miss you too much"_

Nathanael felt his face heat up as a light blush dusted along his face. "I miss you lots too"

" _Well, I'll be back soon so we won't have to miss each other for long"_ Lila said.

Then Nathanael watched as her younger cousin, Leonardo poked at her arm.

" _Lila, storia ora…per favore"_ (Lila, Story now…please.) He said, looking up at her with large round eyes.

" _sì, io fare esso adesso, piccola scimmia"_ (yes, I do it now, little monkey) Lila said gently pinching Leo's cheek as he laughed.

" _Sorry, Nathy I've got to go now,"_ Lila said with a rueful smile.

Nathanael gave a sad smile back "That's okay, we'll talk later"

" _Yeah, bye,"_ she said before signing off.

Nathanael also went out of the Chat and sighed. "At least she's back on Saturday, I just have to get through tomorrow and that's it" he muttered aloud.

' _I never ask her what time her plane would arrive in so I could meet her…I'll text her tomorrow morning…I need to sleep'_ Nathanael thought as he rubbed his tired eyes, eyelids already fluttering closed.

He put his phone on his bedside locker and fixed his pillows before pulling his blankets over him as he lay down to sleep, eyes falling shut.

* * *

Nathanael looked around the airport. Eyes searching out for Lila. He couldn't see her in the crowds of people coming and going through the airport.

" _Where is she?'_ He thought to himself _'I hope she's okay…maybe she didn't arrive in time for her plane…she would have texted me though…'_ As Nathanael continued his inner panic he didn't notice or hear the footsteps of a person creeping up behind him.

Then suddenly his vision went dark as someone covered his eyes with their hands, then the unmistakable sound of Lila's voice whispered in his ear "Guess who"

Nathanael rolled his eyes and smirked, "oh, who could it be?!" Nathanael said in dramatic sarcasm.

Lila laughed as she removed her hands from over his eyes. He turned around to her.

"So did you miss me?" Lila asked, her eyes bright.

Nathanael gently smiled "You already know I did"

Lila placed a gentle hand on Nathanael's cheek "I missed you too" she whispered placing her forehead on Nathanael's.

A light blush dusted across Nathanael's face much the same for Lila. Lila moved her hand from his face and ran it through his red hair, stopping to rest it on the back of his head.

"Nathy, can I have a kiss now?"

She could see the blush on his face darken as he slowly nodded his head. He placed his arms around her neck as he stood on his tippy toes and pressed his lips softly against hers.

Lila wrapped her arms around his torso holding him steady as she closed her eyes and melted into his touch. It was a short but sweet kiss as they broke apart with soft smiles.

Nathanael passed a gentle hand across her cheek "Welcome back" he said.

"It's good to be back" Lila grinned. "Now we better head on, Mia is waiting for me by the car"

"What about your suitcase?" Nathanael asked.

"Charles already brought that out to the car," Lila said. Then she held out her hand with a smile "you coming"

Nathanael smiled and took her hand, interlocking their fingers together as they headed out of the airport.

Lila led Nathanael out of the Airport and towards the black car waiting for her. Charles was sitting in the driver's seat but Mia was waiting outside the car looking anxiously around. She saw Lila approaching and relief washed over her face.

"Lila, where did you run off to?" Mia says, rushing towards her.

"I told you I was going to meet Nathanael," Lila says, then rolls her eyes "You never listen do you?"

Mia's attention turned to Nathanael "Oh, hello Nathanael I had no idea you would be meeting Lila today"

Nathanael's eyes rounded "Um, is that problem?" he looked to Lila with worried eyes.

Lila laughed "Of course it isn't, Ignore Mia she just gets frazzled by any unexpected plans, she likes to live life by lists"

"Never mind that, Miss Rossi we better get you home," Mia said ushering the two into the car.

"Ohh, she used Miss Rossi that means she's mad" Lila giggled.

Nathanael smiled at her.

Mia ignored the girl as she shut the car door and headed to sit in the Passenger seat at the front. Charles started the car and started to drive off.

Lila stared out the window at the passing scenes and the car was plunged into silence.

Nathanael sat awkwardly looking around the car, it was the first time he was in the Rossi car well one of their cars he knew they had many. Nathanael looked to Lila who was still looking out the window a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Um, Lila," he says, the heavy silence making him feel more awkward.

She looks to him with a smile "Yeah?"

He tries to think of something to talk about and blurts out "So why aren't your parents travelling with you?"

Lila frowns and Nathanael mentally slaps himself _'ugh, I'm an idiot! Any topic but that topic!'_

He starts to stutter "S-sorry I di-didn't mean to-"

Lila cuts him off "No, it's okay" she manages a smile "They came to the Airport in Italy with me and I thought we were all coming back here together but then it turns out they were getting different planes" Lila's smile vanished "Turns out they had urgent work duties they had to take care off I guess I knew that would happen even during our time in Italy they couldn't be bothered with sitting around"

Nathanael's eyes widened at her words and he reached out placing his hand gently over hers. She looked him a blush spreading over her cheeks.

"Sorry was I rambling…"

Nathanael smiles "No, you weren't…I'm just happy you feel you can trust me"

Lila laughs "You're such a dork, of course, I trust you"

After that, the car ride is more relaxed with no awkward silences as the duo talked about everything they had missed out on during their time apart.

The Car pulled up beside the Rossi House and Nathanael became lost in his thoughts. It wasn't a very big house like the Agreste's even though Nathanael knew Lila's family could afford a place like that what with her Mother being a diplomat and her father owning many car companies. The place was still bigger than the small apartment Nathanael lived in with his mum. Still, he couldn't help but wonder how a girl as beautiful, rich and smart as Lila was, wanted to date him of all people.

"Nathanael, you coming?"

Nathanael blinked out of his thoughts and looks to see Lila looking at him with concerned eyes. He blushed.

"Yeah, I was just lost in my thoughts," Nathanael says as he gets out of the car after Lila.

Lila giggles "Should have guessed that"

Nathanael looks to see Charles taking suitcases out of the boot of the car and he hurries over. Lila raises an eyebrow and watches where Nathanael goes

"Do you need any help with those?" Nathanael asked.

Charles looked at the boy in surprise "Oh…well" he looked Nathanael up and down "I don't mean to be rude…see Miss Lila likes to over pack and…"

"Hm…?" Nathanael looked up at him with bright eager eyes. Lila silently giggled behind her hand at how cute he was.

Charles gave a slight cough "Nothing…Thank you that would be a great help" he purposely takes out the lightest suitcase and hands it to Nathanael who smiles happily.

"Nathy, come on you can bring that up to my room" Lila smiles. _'How the hell is he that adorable?'_ He follows her into the house and up the winding stairs to a long corridor which they walk down towards Lila's room.

They reached the door to Lila's room. They walk into a room that is perfectly clean what with Lila not living in it for a month, the afternoon sunlight spilt in through the small window making the lilacs and pinks on her wall softer, creating a warm cozy feeling throughout the room.

"So where do you want me to put this?" Nathanael asks, holding the suitcase.

"Oh, just put it over there" Lila indicates to the floor near a large bookcase. Nathanael nods and puts the suitcase down while Lila sits on top of her bed, the zebra patterned duvet crinkling underneath her.

Then he stands awkwardly in the middle of the room glancing around at the posters and pictures that highlighted the walls. Most were Italian landmarks or pictures of Lila with her family in Italy. He bites on his lower lip and looks to the impressive mask collection that covers the other half of her walls. Well, Nathanael didn't know whether to call it impressive or creepy.

Lila giggles "You just going to stand there?"

Nathanael blushes and looks to Lila who is looking at him with bright green eyes and a soft smile playing on her lips.

She pat's the bed beside her "You can sit y'know"

Nathanael nods and slowly walks over and sits beside her. He keeps staring at the masks before curiosity gets the best of him as he asks "What's all the masks about?"

Lila follows his gaze to the wall of maks and smirks "That's my collection of disguise masks, I can murder people without them knowing who I am"

Nathanael rolls his eyes "Vey funny" he says drily. "What's the real reason"

Lila smiles "That's totally the truth"

He raises an eyebrow.

She laughs aloud "Okay, they're from the fairs in Venice, Nonna takes me and my cousins every year and buys us a mask each"

Nathanael glares at her "Could have just said that first" he grumbled.

Lila giggles "Wouldn't have been as funny"

"Whatever" Nathanael rolls his eyes.

"Oh, I almost forgot I got you something," Lila says standing up.

"You didn't have to!" Nathanael says.

"I know that but I wanted to," Lila says heading towards the door "Plus I missed your birthday during my first week in Italy so I felt bad"

Nathanael stood up "I told you I didn't care about that" he followed her down the corridor.

"Yeah well, I've bought it now so no complaining" Lila declared.

They headed back down the stairs into the main foyer and Lila's other 3 suitcases were sitting there.

"Mr Charles was right about you over packing!" Nathanael teased.

Lila pouted "I don't over-pack I just make sure to be prepared for everything"

Nathanael Laughs "Sure whatever you say"

Lila knelt down and opened the second largest suitcase, it was black and covered in white spots. She took out a wrapped gift and stood up then handed it over to Nathanael.

"Wow, you even wrapped it" Nathanael chuckled.

Lila placed her hands on her hips "Of course, I don't do a job by halves"

Nathanael rolled his eyes yet again, but a smile was evident on his face "Well, Thank you"

"Open it!" Lila says excitement sparkled in her eyes. She was almost bouncing on her toes in excitement.

Nathanael starts to carefully unwrap the paper while Lila looks on grinning, he finally unwraps it to a thin rectangle box. Nathanael looked to Lila "This better not be like a series of boxes thing"

"No, just open it!" Lila said impatiently.

"Okay, Okay!" Nathanael laughs and opens the box and sees a folded light grey hoodie. He raised an eyebrow and slowly lifted it out of the box "A hoodie?"

Lila's eyes twinkled "Look at the back" she giggled.

Nathanael turned the hoodie around and laughed when he saw the writing it had Nathy written in bold red letters and under was an embroidered tomato.

Lila smiled "So you like it?"

"Yeah, of course" he put the box down on the ground and held the hoodie out full size "It might be a little big though"

"I didn't know your actual size and didn't want to ask you in case you guessed I was getting you a gift," Lila said.

"No worries, I still love it," Nathanael said as he carefully folded the hoodie back up. Then he lifted the box to place it back in and his eyes widened "Wait…" he noticed an envelope in it and picked it up.

"Oh yeah, the other gift," Lila said.

"Another? But-"

"Just open it before you start complaining," Lila says.

Nathanael sighs. He opens the envelope and his eyes widened "This is tickets to Anonymous Noise, Lila! These sold out so fast!"

Lila laughed "I knew how much you wanted to go"

"Wait…these are for their Italy tour during summer," Nathanael says looking at the tickets closely and then to Lila.

Lila blushes "Oh yeah um well I thought if you wanted to that you could come to Italy with me during the summer holidays, I know it's a long way off…" she plays with her bracelets, eyes downcast.

Nathanael's cheeks turn red "Seriously, wouldn't your family mind?" he asks.

She looks up at that "Of course not, Nonna said she would love to have you over and she's the boss so you can't disappoint her now can you?" Lila smirks.

Nathanael smiles "Then I can't wait" then he pauses "That's if my mother lets me go"

Lila grins "If you're too scared to ask I'll ask her for you"

"I'm not scared!" he frowns "It's just you know how overbearing she can be, still I'm sure she'll let me go as she loves you"

Lila blushed "That's not true"

"It is and it's a good thing too as it means I can go with you to Italy" Nathanael grins.

Lila grins, happy to know he'll be with her next time in Italy and she won't be missing him each day.

"Great now that we've sorted all that out how about we watch a movie," Lila says.

"Shouldn't you put your suitcases back up in your room?" Nathanael asks.

Lila pouts "I suppose"

"Don't worry I'll help!" Nathanael says as he picks up the suitcase closest to him.

Lila zips back up the other suitcase also picking it up and the final one and they head back up to her room.

"Okay, so what movie are we watching?" Lila asks.

Nathanael sits down beside her "I don't really care, you choose"

Lila pouts in concentration as she uses the remote to scroll through the listed movies "How about…triple risk"

It was a movie set 1920's Italy about the Mafia more accurately it is about one man who betrays the mafia by saving the baby son of a family the Mafia kills for 'snitching' and then he goes on the run with the boy while also having to protect him. It was an old school film but Lila liked those type the best.

Nathanael nods "Sure that's okay"

Lila smiled "Great I'll just get the Popcorn!" she stood up and headed towards the kitchen.

Soon she was cuddled up next to Nathanael as they watched the movie.

"I still think it's a little over the top for them to want to kill a baby," Nathanael said as he grabbed some popcorn from the bowl,

Lila glanced at him "Well, maybe it's so when he grows up he won't be a threat, after all, he would want revenge for his family"

"Then they could have just lied to him his entire life by saying they died in a car crash or something," Nathanael said exasperatedly.

Lila laughed "Okay but it is a movie it wouldn't be entertaining if they didn't have action"

Nathanael grumbled and rolled his eyes. Lila smiled and shook her head at his dramatics but focused back on the movie.

Nathanael glanced at Lila. His face flushed as he slowly reached and put an arm around her, pulling her closer. Lila glanced at him, she saw his blushing face making her giggle. This caused Nathanael's face to heat up more. In his embarrassment, he went to move his arm away.

Lila stopped him "Sorry I wasn't laughing at you just at how cute you are" she rested her head on his shoulder "I like this"

"R-Right" Was all Nathanael could manage to stutter out as his face was ablaze.

The room turned quiet except for voices and gunshots from the Tv. Nathanael calmed down a little and felt able to speak in proper sentences. "Lila"

"Yea" she answered.

Nathanael shifted to face her on the sofa. "You know I really missed you."

Lila felt her heart flutter faster at his words. She turned to face him "You already said that," she said with a teasing grin.

Nathanael blushed "I know that it's just-" he reached over placing a free hand gently on her cheek. "It's just nice to have you back and…that we can be – like this again." Lila could see the blush on his cheeks.

"My emails weren't enough for you?" Lila teased. "I put some of my best work into them"

Nathanael laughed, and Lila could feel his breath on her face. She hadn't realized how close they'd gotten. Their noses were almost touching. "They were very…inventive, but sorry, no, they weren't quite good enough for me."

Lila reached up and ran tentative fingers through his hair, stopping to rest it on the back of his head. They slowly leaned in to kiss when Lila's phone went off shocking them out of them out of the moment.

They quickly moved apart with blushing faces. Lila looked to her phone on the coffee table where it buzzed and vibrated. Her eyes widened as she reached to pick it up. She gasped a little when she saw the caller ID.

Nathanael turned down the movie's volume looking at Lila in concern. "Who is it?" he asked.

"My Father, he rarely calls," Lila said. She pressed answer and started talking to her dad while Nathanael watched in curiosity and concern.

Lila was listening to her dad sometimes nodding saying "Yeah" or sometimes "Okay" The call wasn't that long as everything Lila's parent's do, they do in a rush much too eager to move on to more piling work.

"What did he want?" Nathanael asked.

"Oh," Lila turned to look at Nathanael with round eyes "It was just about a formal party he will be holding tomorrow he wanted me to alert Mia to prepare for it and book him and mother flights back"

"Oh, okay you better go do that," Nathanael says.

Lila nods "That's if Mia is about usually he contacts her directly she must have her phone off which is strange" she stands up and heads out of the room in search of Mia. Nathanael is left to wait in the Living room.

When Lila finally comes back she is surprised to see Nathanael getting up to leave.

"You're leaving already?" Lila asks. A slight whine in her voice.

Nathanael offer's a rueful smile "Yeah, my mother texted she was worried because it's got so late"

Lila glances out the window and is surprised to see the sun setting casting shades of orange and pink across the sky. "Oh so it is" she looks to Nathanael "Well they do say time flies when you're having fun"

Nathanael laughed as he walked to the door. Lila followed him out into the wide hall and to the front door. She opened it for him, still, she was frowning with dull eyes.

Nathanael smirked "Don't look so sad I'll see you tomorrow well maybe, what day is that formal party your parents are hosting on?" he walks to stand on the doorstep.

Lila pouts "Tomorrow, it'll be so boring" her eyes light up as an idea comes to her "Nathy, you should come!" she takes his hands in hers as she grins.

Nathanael pales "Wh-What, Me but I can't- I mean…"

"Of course, you can and it's the perfect opportunity for you to meet my Parents they're always away on work" Lila smiles.

Nathanael gulps turning even paler at the prospect of meeting Lila's parents especially at what sounds like a pressuring event. He had heard lots about them and they sounded strict and scary. Before he has a chance to make up an excuse, Lila exclaims

"So, you'll come! This is so exciting!"

Nathanael offers a weak smile "Y-yeah, I-I better head back home" he removes his hands from hers and then backs away nearly tripping down the steps. He turns and rushes home hearing Lila shout goodbye after him.

Lila shuts the door, she was wrapped in a happy aura so she didn't bother to question Nathanael's behaviour. She knew tomorrow would be fun.


	2. Stand by you

**So the second chapter and can you believe an actual storyline is slowly revealing itself *I'm shocked myself lol*, I hope you enjoy and Please leave comments, I am a desperate author who needs affection and that is not above begging.**

* * *

Nathanael stood in front of the mirror fixing his red tie. His eyebrows furrowing together, He was nervous about meeting Lila's Parent's but it wasn't like he was just not going to show up, in fact, he was sure Lila's reaction to that would be much scarier than meeting her parents.

"Good thing you still have that suit from when you went to prom, it still fits you nicely too"

He glanced over his shoulder to see his mum standing in the doorway with a smile "Yeah" he said almost emotionless. He continued to struggle with the tie.

His mum sighed "What are you at?" she shook her head at the state of his tie. "Come here"

Nathanael shook his head as he tried to walk past her but he couldn't stop his mother from grabbing his arm. She turned him around to face her and started to fix his tie. He scowled. She pulled it tight-too tight. Nathanael yelped then coughed as he loosened it.

"Are you trying to kill me!" he exclaimed.

"No, now stand still you've ruined it," Adina said reaching to tighten it again. Nathanael slapped her hand away. she glared. "No, I'm fine"

She frowned but dusted the shoulders of the grey blazer jacket of the suit "Very well" she could sense her son was nervous so she offered a smile "You'll be fine, pet" she brushed her fingers through his hair flattening some stray unruly hairs of his. "You're a lovely boy and I'm sure Mr and Mrs Rossi will see that"

Nathanael rolled his eyes "Mom, of course, you would say that!"

"Exactly, I've raised you so I know and if that isn't enough for them then how cute you and Lila are together should be" Miss Kurtzberg folded her arms.

Nathanael's face reddened "Mum!" he complained. He bowed his head to avoid her gaze.

Adina laughed "It's a good thing I raised you to be such a sweet boy"

"Whatever, I better head to Lila's she said she wanted me to come early so her parents wouldn't be occupied by other guests," Nathanael says moving past his mother out the door.

"Okay, have fun" His mother called after him as he headed down the stairs.

Nathanael walked up the steps and used the lion head knocker to knock on the front door of the Rossi's mansion. He waited a second then the door was opened by Mia.

"Hello Nathanael," Mia said, she opened the door wider "You can come in and wait here while Lila gets ready, she shan't be too long" she stepped to the side to let Nathanael walk in.

Nathanael glanced around and noticed the floor and everything else had been cleaned within an inch of their lives to shine in the lights.

"Nathanael!"

His head turned at the shout of his name and he saw Lila rushing down the steps. She is wearing a dark green dress, her hair was loose and tumbled down her back and over her shoulders. Nathanael felt a blush rise in his cheeks as he noticed she was wearing the necklace he had got her, the small emeralds sparkled in the light.

She came to stand beside him "You came!" she grinned.

"Uh, Yeah of course," he said, eyes still focused on her neck as he comments "You're wearing the necklace"

Lila's eyes rounded then she looked to the necklace "Oh, Yes" she toyed with it "I actually wear it every day but it's usually hiding under clothes so that's why you didn't notice" she chuckled.

Nathanael's face flushed "I'm glad you like it that much"

"I told you I loved it, silly" she entwined her hand in his "Now are you ready to meet my parents?"

The colour drained from Nathanael's face "N-Now?" he was pretty sure Lila could feel him tremble.

Lila gave his hand a reassuring squeeze "Don't look so worried, it's not like your facing two angry dragons…" she paused "Well, they weren't angry last time I saw them"

Nathanael went stiff "I don't think- I mean" his thoughts were all blurry and everything seemed to be moving too fast.

Lila gently removed her hand from his. She placed her hands on his shoulders "Nathanael look at me" he looked up at her green eyes and felt himself start to calm down "Good, Now listen: You are going to be completely fine, I'm sure my parent's will like you and I'm going to be right there beside you. It's not as scary as your imagination is making it out to be, I promise" she smiled.

Nathanael looked at her with round eyes and summoned the courage to nod. He could trust those bright green eyes. "Okay"

Lila once again took Nathanael's hand in hers "So you're sure you're ready" she brushed some dust off his suit. He could see she was anxious as well.

He shakily nodded just as he heard someone at the top of the stairs speaking Italian. He looked up to see a man of large build. He had the same coloured eyes as Lila and the same olive coloured skin. The main difference was the man's jet black hair, strong jawline, and sharp nose. A woman of average height in a dark purple mermaid dress was walking beside him she looked remarkably like Lila, having the same button nose, olive skin and face structure the only differences being her chestnut brown hair was cut into a short bob style and her eyes were a honey brown.

They looked so high above Nathanael like he had no right to speak to them. His face turned white and he started to tremble a little. Lila glanced at him in concern and nudged him. He looked to her and she whispered "They're softie's way deep down, I promise"

Nathanael frowned "I'm not sure that's of help to me right now" he whispered back. Lila laughed. Then her parents reached the end of the stairs and stopped when they saw Lila and Nathanael.

Nathanael could see both Lila's parents securitizing him under a pressuring gaze. He could feel himself break out in a cold sweat. His collar somehow feeling too tight.

Mr Rossi's eyebrows furrowed "Lila, who is this boy?"

Lila sighed "I told you, this is Nathanael" she nudged Nathanael giving him an encouraging smile.

Nathanael swallowed willing himself to speak properly "Bonjour Monsieur and Madame as your daughter said I am Nathanael Kurtzberg" he bit on his lower lip wondering what he was meant to say next. It didn't help that Mr and Mrs Rossi were looking at him with icy gazes.

Lila could see he was struggling so she took over "Father, Mother do you not remember I told you that Nathanael wanted to meet you today"

Mrs Rossi looked Nathanael over and her mouth set in a hard line "This is the Nathanael you spoke of"

Lila anxiously laughed "Obviously, I just said"

Nathanael was on the brink of a panic attack. _'They hate me, I knew it! They'll stop Lila from seeing me…'_

Her father gave a cough "Well, it is was nice to meet you Nathanael maybe we can speak later but my wife and I have some pressing matters to attend to"

Mrs Rossi nodded as she and her husband left the last step. Walking right past Nathanael without a second glance.

Nathanael bowed his head he felt Lila place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, what's the sad face for?" she asked.

He looked up at her, his eyes had lost the sparkle they usually had, now they were dull. "They hate me don't they?"

Lila's eyes rounded "What, No, of course, they don't" she faked a smile "They seem to like you a lot"

Nathanael narrowed his eyes "Don't lie, Lila, I can accept the truth" he looked away.

"Nathanael, don't worry too much the only things my parents are actually capable of loving are money, fame and work so they didn't seem overjoyed to meet you but I promise you they don't hate you. If they did then they would have ordered you to get out of the house" Lila said.

Nathanael nodded "I suppose"

"Now take that sad look off your face we still got to get through the rest of this _party_ " she sighed.

Nathanael managed a small smile "Okay, but are they all going to be as…emotionless as your parents?"

"The adults yes, their children, unfortunately, no" Lila smirked.

Nathanael's eyes widened as he heard there was going to be other people around their age attending before he could question Lila more she was pulling him down the hall to the main room.

Now the party was in full swing as guests stood around talking with each other. Nathanael was standing there wide-eyed and nervous. The people were either famous, rich or Famous and rich. Nathanael had never felt more like a Nobody in his life.

"Oh and there's Aron Beaumont, you know the famous film director," Lila said.

Nathanael certainly did know who he was from the number of times he had heard Nino gushing about how amazing the man's films were.

"Me and his Daughter Hanae are best friends" Lila smiled.

Nathanael looked at her with narrow eyes and a raised eyebrow. She caught his stare and frowned.

"I'm not lying!" she hissed. A look of hurt passed over her face as she folded her arms glancing away from the boy.

Nathanael winced as he realised how insensitive he had been. "I never said that"

"You didn't have to, I saw you're the look on your face" she snarled "She's still in Japan at the moment but if you don't believe me, I can call her will that be enough proof?" she hissed still refusing to look at him.

Nathanael frowned "Lila, don't be like that" he sighed "Look I'm sorry, I believe you"

Lila's eye's still held hurt in them as she finally looked him in the eye while she nodded hesitantly "Fine, I don't like to fight with you"

Nathanael took her hand in his entwining their fingers "I don't like fighting with you either" he smiled at her and she looked at him and couldn't help smiling herself.

"Right, so then why don't you tell me who everyone else cause I have no clue" Nathanael chuckled.

Lila laughed "Okay" she started to lead him through the small crowds.

"Lila!"

The duo stopped when they heard someone call Lila's name. Nathanael looked around to see a tanned boy with dark brown hair making his way towards them.

He glanced at Lila to see what her reaction would be towards the boy. She was smiling but he could tell that it was forced. As the boy came closer her eyes were narrowed allowing him to know this boy was either just annoying or bad news.

The boy reached them.

"Hello, Carlo," Lila said. Her grip on Nathanael's hand tightened. He looked to her in concern.

"Who's this?" he nodded at Nathanael.

"This is Nathanael, My boyfriend," she said.

Nathanael couldn't help the adoring smile that appears on his face as he hears Lila calling him her boyfriend. Lila looks at him and catches it, a relaxed happy smile appearing on her face. Nathanael blushes.

"Nathanael, this is Carlo, he is the son of my Fathers friend"

Nathanael nodded and gave Carlo a small smile "Well, it's nice to meet you, Carlo"

Carlo just glared at the boy before acting like Nathanael wasn't there. "So, how are you finding Paris? I've only been here for two days and it's seriously boring"

Lila frowned at him ignoring Nathanael but said nothing she couldn't shout or argue with him in case it risked her parents' reputations. She forced a smile "I think Paris has its own charms, but it does help that I lived here for a year now"

Carlo nodded then glanced at Nathanael "And how long you been with _him_?"

Nathanael glared at Carlo. Lila's eyebrows had also furrowed together.

"If by _Him_ you mean Nathanael we have been together for around half a year, though I don't see why that interests you" there is a sharpness to her words that make Carlo raise his eyebrows.

"I was only asking" Carlo chuckles. He casts a look over Nathanael "I mean he doesn't seem your type" he smirks at Nathanael. This only makes the anger inside Nathanael grow more. Still, he doesn't speak he doesn't wish to cause Lila trouble.

"It was _nice_ seeing you again, Carlo but I must go" she pulls Nathanael away before Carlo can stop them.

As they're leaving Carlo's eyes narrow as he stares after Nathanael.

"What is that guy's problem?" Nathanael hisses.

Lila pulls Nathanael to a quiet corner. She sighs "He's a creep that's what"

Nathanael eyebrow's rise "How so?"

Lila frowns "He has tried multiple times to come on to me and every time I tell him I'm not interested but he just never takes the message"

Nathanael narrows his eyes and looks back over the crowd for Carlo "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I'll go tell him to back off" Nathanael says, acting strangely heroic and confident as he moves to go look for Carlo.

Lila grabs Nathanael's arm stopping him "Are you crazy?" she exclaims.

He glances over his shoulder at her "What do mean?" she lets go of his arm and he turns to face her.

"Nathanael you do that and it'll only end up in a physical fight, Carlo likes to use his fists cause he doesn't have a brain" she rolls her eyes. "As much as I love you, Nathanael, you got to admit you stand no chance in a fight" she smiles

His face reddens and he looks at the ground "You don't know that maybe I could beat him up" he hears Lila giggle at that only making him more embarrassed. He looks up with a glare "Fine, if I'm not strong or cool enough why are you with me? Maybe Carlo's right and I'm not your type"

Lila's eyes widened and she places her hands on his shoulders "Nathanael, your so much better than anyone I've been with before all the others were violent cheating jerks I never loved them" she gave a bitter laugh "I don't think I even liked them…" she lowered her head "I just lied to myself I did cause it felt better than being lonely or unpopular"

Nathanael's eyes widened at Lila's honesty. She finally looks up again with bright eyes "But I promise you that I do love you, Nathanael, the fact that you're so different than all those others is a good thing. I like that you're a huge dork, that your super sweet and also amazingly kind" she smiles at him as he flushes red.

"How am I meant to top that?" he smirks.

Lila laughs and passes a hand on his cheek "You don't have to I know you're too good for me"

His eyes widen at her words "What, No you're not! You're beautiful and smart, you're so confident and you're never afraid to stand up for the things you believe in-I mean I can understand why people wonder how a girl as amazing as you would date someone like me"

A furious blush overtakes Lila's face she smiles and leans her forehead against Nathanael's "I feel like this is going to turn into an argument about who is above the others league so why don't we just agree we're both out of each other's leagues"

Nathanael giggles "Okay"

Lila steps away and moves a lock of his hair behind his ear. Then Lila pressed her lips slowly but determinedly on his forehead. His face turns as red as his tomato-red hair.

"Now" she takes his hand once again in her own "Let's try to enjoy the rest of this boring party"

"And avoid Carlo" Nathanael adds.

Lila smiles "Yes, and avoid Carlo"

"Lila I'm just going to the toilet," Nathanael said.

Lila nods "Okay, you know the way?"

Nathanael nods "Yeah, I'll be fine" he walks away and heads up the stairs leaving Lila to wander around the party with all the very drunk grown up's whispering and bad mouthing other people they know.

Lila has a suspicion that her Parents only held these formal parties to get people drunk so then they would spill information they could use for their advantage. She shook her head at their behaviour.

Then she felt a hand clamp on her shoulder making her jump. Her head whipped around wide-eyed to see Carlo standing beside her grinning "You're easily startled aren't you!"

Lila moved away glaring at him in suspicion. She hadn't mind talking to him with Nathanael giving her support but now she was alone and she knew Carlo would once again not understand the meaning of No or the concept of personal space.

"So where's that little runt of a boyfriend" he laughs harshly "Left you already?"

Lila feels a fire burn in her and as much as she wants to slap the jerk and shout at him she cannot as she would be put in the blame for ruining the party. She clenches her hands at her side.

"Not speaking now, are you? What, does the little runt not let you speak unless he's around?" he steps closer with a smirk. Lila moves back.

"Nathanael is a gentleman he's not a no-good jerk like some" she hisses.

Carlo barks out a laugh moving ever closer. Lila stumbles back and then realises he's backed her into a corner. She narrows her eyes as she tries to look for a way to escape. He puts his hands up on the wall blocking her escape.

"Carlo, please move I have to go…" she blanched. She tried to avoid looking directly at him in search of Nathanael.

"You've always been a tease" he grabbed her chin forcing her to look up at him.

"Let go off me!" she snaps. Trying to push him away. His eyes narrow and pushes her hands off his chest gripping her wrists tightly. She tries to break free of his grasp but he is much stronger than he looks.

"I've had enough of you always pushing me away and now you decide to go out with that…freak, honestly Lila I expected better from you" he tilted his head a little.

"Nathanael is not a freak!" Lila snarls "Now let go of me!"

Nathanael heads back down the stairs and his eyes dart around in search of Lila. He cannot see her so he heads through the party goers. His eyebrows furrow as he cannot see her anywhere then he hears her voice. She sounded distressed. He gasps and follows the voice to see Carlo has Lila backed up in a corner his hands gripping her wrists.

Nathanael feels his blood spike and his eyes glowed with fierce anger. He didn't care if people judged or bullied him, he could live with that but as soon as they threaten someone he cares for that was the breaking point of his patience. At that moment, he was blinded by a five-course serving of rage that tasted bitter, yet surprisingly satisfying. He quickly heads over losing all ability to feel anything but anger. He taps Carlo on the shoulder. The Boy lets go off Lila and turns around confused that is when Nathanael reaches out. He punches him hard in the face. All the pent up rage he has felt for so long is in that hit so when his fist makes contact with Carlo's face, He falls to the ground wailing in pain.

He hears Lila gasp of shock but that isn't enough to stop him. He feels he hasn't taught Carlo a lesson yet. He tackles him and holds him down so he could not fight back. Though it would be doubtful he would've anyway as Nathanael's fists continued to hit his face. Nathanael does feel a little guilty, but that feeling is soon overcome with fury and revenge so he feels unable to stop. He hears Lila scream cut through his clouded mind of anger.

"Nathanael!" she screams "Stop it, that's enough!" she grabs him under the arms and pulls him off and away from the Italian male.

Slowly he comes out of his anger fuelled haze and looks to see Lila staring at him with tears glistening in her eyes. "Lila…" he trails off and looks to Carlo and a sharp gasp resounds in his throat at the state he had put the boy in. His face is bloody and bruised. Nathanael can't believe he would have done such a thing.

The colour drains from his face as he realises some of the adults were staring their jaws slack at the display. He bites on his lower lip. _'Shit, I've really screwed up...I don't know what came over me…What will Lila's parents think?'_ His breathing hastened and he feels like running away when Lila's hand hesitantly entwines his own.

He looks to her worry in his eyes. "Come on, they can-the adults will deal with Carlo" she slowly leads Nathanael off down a corridor. He glances over his shoulder and he sees an older man rushing through the crowd who looks a lot like Carlo. _'Must be his father'_ Nathanael gulps.

"Come on Nathanael," Lila says in a trembling voice. He looks to her in concern but she refuses to look back at him and his heart sinks.

' _Does she hate me? But I did it to protect her…still, I did go overboard, maybe she's afraid of me. She thinks me a monster…'_ Tears well in his eyes as she leads him into a small kitchen.

It is mostly white with a few black and silver pieces to take away from the whiteness of the room.

She lets go of his hand and shuts the door. He shifts on his feet and lowers his head too afraid to look her in the eye to see how she fears him, hates him and probably no longer loves him.

"What's wrong, Nathanael?"

He lifted his chin to look at her surprised by her concern. He watches as she heads to a cupboard reaching into the back of it to take out a box of medical supplies "Is it because your knuckles hurt?"

He raises an eyebrow than looks at his knuckles, His eyes widen when he sees they are cut, bruised and bloody. Now that he has seen them he winces as they sting.

"Come on sit here," Lila says. She points to one of the white chairs at the marble kitchen island. Nathanael walks over and sits on it as Lila takes out a bottle of antibiotic ointment and a few white cotton pads. "Put your hands out" she instructs him.

He does as she asks placing his hands on the counter with his knuckles facing up. He watches as she puts a little bit of the liquid from the bottle on a pad.

' _I wonder if she does hate me…she's not speaking to me in the way she usually does'_

She applies the cotton pad to his knuckles. Nathanael lets out a sharp gasp and winces as it makes his knuckles hurt like hell.

"Maybe this will put you off getting into a fight again," Lila says. She continues to dab at his knuckles cleaning away the blood so there is no risk of infection.

Nathanael presses his lips together trying to ignore the pain. "I'm sorry, I understand if you hate me"

There is a silence as Lila takes a new cotton pad and puts some ointment on it. Nathanael lowers his gaze taking her silence as a sign she does hate him.

The silence breaks as she finally speaks.

"I don't hate you, silly" she takes his left hand and starts pressing the pad to the cuts. Nathanael has to bite back a cry of pain.

"Yo-You don't?" he asks.

Lila shakes her head keeping her gaze concentrated on his knuckles "No, I know you did it to protect me and I'm thankful of that even if you did go overboard"

Nathanael lowers his head feeling ashamed of his anger.

"But I am worried, Carlo is sneaky but his Father is even worse he may use this to make my father's life hell or more likely he may take this to the police"

Nathanael's eye's rounded. He hadn't even thought about that. "Lila! I can't go to prison! I'll never make it! And my Mum- she'll kill me if she finds out!" Nathanael shrieked.

Lila smirked, "Well if your mum kills you, you won't have to go to prison will ya?"

Nathanael gives her a dirty look "This isn't funny Lila, I'm too young to go to Prison!" he practically wails.

"Calm it, Tomato you won't be going to prison," Lila says.

"How are you so sure?" He asks.

She looks up at him with a determined gaze in her green eyes "Cause I'll make sure you won't okay"

Nathanael shakily nods his head. He blushes and looks to his knuckles "So I take it you still love me?"

He hears Lila's laugh "Why would I not, you dork"

"I just thought that you might think me a monster now…so you didn't want to be with me" Nathanael uses his free hand to rub the back of his neck.

"A monster?" Lila shakes her head "Nathanael, you're not a monster, don't get overdramatic, trust me I've seen people do worse to others"

"You have?" he asks wide-eyed.

"Yes, so now stop this overdramatic imagination of yours, I still love you and want to be with you" she looked at him with twinkling eyes and a soft smile.

A flush crept up his face. "I'm glad" he smiles.

"Good, now let me finish cleaning these knuckles then we'll go speak to my Father," Lila says, she pushes some hair behind her ear.

Nathanael pales "Will he be really mad?" his body trembles at the thought of Mr Rossi being Mad.

Lila gives a half-shrug "Who knows, the only person who can understand my Father's mind is my Mother"

Nathanael nods and tries to calm himself. _'I can't have a panic attack over this, after all, I brought it on myself'_

Now he stands before Lila's parents, his left hand tightened into a fist at his side, his other is hand is clasping Lila's. She gives his hand a soft squeeze to let him know she is there for him. He appreciates it as her parent's poker-faced gazes are making him break out in a cold sweat. His face drains of more colour until he could practically pass for a ghost.

Nathanael is grateful for the fact the room is empty except for, Mr and Mrs Rossi, himself and Lila. He is quite sure he would definitely suffer a panic attack if there had been a crowd of judging rich people.

Carlo's Father had already left the mansion with his son who was fine except for his swelling face and bruised pride. His Father still managed to shout and scream about how Mr Rossi better deal with that No good boyfriend of his daughter or else he would.

"So…Nathanael, is it true you viciously attacked Mr Moretti's son?" Mr Rossi's voice is almost emotionless.

Lila scoffs at the word _"Viciously"_ but her mother gives her a look that soon has her go quiet again.

Tension builds as they wait for Nathanael's answer.

Nathanael gulps "Yes, Mr Rossi but I am unsure if I would use viciously as I only did it to protect Lila" he manages to maintain eye contact with the older man.

Mr Rossi raises his eyebrows and Mrs Rossi tilts her head confused at his words.

"But Mr Moretti said that the attack was uncalled for as his son was only talking to Lila" Mrs Rossi says

Nathanael's eyes narrow at the lies they had been spinning. Before he has a chance to speak Lila cuts in.

"They're Liars! Carlo is a creep he has tried on multiple occasions to-to make a move on me" Lila's face is red at telling her parents this "I have told him No on all these occasions but he still persists so tonight he had me backed up in a corner when Nathanael saw this he only did what he could to protect me" she glanced at Nathanael with a smile.

Nathanael manages a small smile back even though he was trembling a little.

"I see" Mr Rossi muttered. He glances at his wife who nods. He gives a cough. "As I understand the situation better now I shall let this pass without any need for…prohibiting your relationship"

Nathanael beams then caught himself making sure to keep a sombre expression on his face "Thank you very much, Mr Rossi"

He nods "Now you may leave I must discuss stuff with my wife"

Lila smiles "Thank you, Father" she quickly pulls Nathanael towards the door. They leave shutting the door closed. Once they are gone Luca and Rosetta Rossi start to talk.

"So what do you think of the boy?" Rosetta asks.

"I must say when I first met him I did not think him a boy suitable for my daughter but he appears to care for her so I shall let them continue to see each other for the time being unless you have objections?" he looks to his wife.

She can see past his formal words and can tell he actually likes the boy from the smile he is trying to hide and the gleam in his eyes "Luca, don't lie how do you really feel about the boy?"

He stuck out his chest folding his arms "I just said!" she looked at him with a teasing smirk. He huffed.

She shook her head "Fine, be like that I myself would rather Lila settle for someone…how do I say it nicely…of a similar background"

Luca raised an eyebrow.

"What, don't look at me like that, Lila needs someone who can provide security especially financial security but she is still young and she has plenty of time to find someone of proper social status" Rosetta nodded.

"We all have our opinions," Luca says "Now shall we return to our guests I had nearly got Mr Davis to tell me all of the plans for this new budget they will be proposing in the summer"

Rosetta nodded heading for the door, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. Her husband quickly followed.

Nathanael grinned as he and Lila walked into the quiet entrance hall. "Well, they don't hate me that's good"

Lila smiles "Yeah, not that it would have mattered they could have banned us from seeing each other but I wouldn't have listened" she laughs "it's not like it's the 18th century anymore"

Nathanael laughs "Yeah" he sighs "I better head home and face my Mother's questioning…do you think she'll believe my knuckles got like this by tripping"

"I think your mother is smarter than that, Nathy, just tell her the truth," Lila says. They head for the door together.

Nathanael sighs "Fine, but if you don't hear from me again its cause she murdered me"

Lila giggles as she opens the door "You're really overtaking me in the dramatics department today Nathanael"

Nathanael rolls his eyes "Whatever, it's only because your such a bad influence" he smiles

Lila laughs "But you love it"

Nathanael smiles "true" he walks into the cool evening air. "Bye, I'll see you tommorow"

"Of course" Lila calls after him. "Bye"

He glances behind offering her a smile before heading on down the path.


	3. Whole Heart

Nathanael quietly entered the flat hoping he could maybe sneak up to his room without his Mother questioning him and then freaking out if she saw the state of his knuckles.

He had reached the second stair but when he put his foot gently on the third it decided it wanted to ruin its life as it let out a loud creak. He stiffened and winced as he heard the living room door open. His mum looked up at him in slight confusion.

"What are you sneaking around for?"

Nathanael sheepishly smiled and frantically tried to hide his hands behind his back but his mother's eagle's eyes were too good for him.

Her eyes widened in horror and anger "Nathanael Eitan Kurtzberg, what in God's name have you been up to?" she exclaims.

Nathanael pales. She is using his full name. He is deader than dead.

He anxiously laughs "Would you believe I tripped?"

Her narrowed eyes and the way she crosses his arms signals to him she does not. "You better start talking Right now" she growls.

He sighs and holds onto the bannister invoking a gasp from his mum when she sees his knuckles properly. "I'm sorry, Mum but I had to there was this huge jerk and he had cornered Lila and I don't know I just saw red and then I hit him and…I guess I couldn't stop until Lila pulled me away But he was the one in the wrong Mum not me!" Nathanael pleads.

Adina pouts "I see…he does sound awful" her eyebrows furrowed "But you better hope to God the police don't get involved in this or I swear-"

"Mum, The police won't be getting involved Lila said she would sort it"

Miss Kurtzberg raises an eyebrow "Lila? Nathanael as much as I love the girl what can she do?"

"Her parents are rich and her mother is a diplomat so I'm sure there's plenty!" he frowns.

She sighs "I hope you're right" then her glare returns "Now go to your room"

Nathanael's mouth draws in a tight line "Why am I getting punished?"

"I know you say you did it to protect Lila and I am happy for that" Adina says "I still do tolerate my son being violent, I have raised you better than that!"

Nathanael grumbles "Whatever, I was going to my room anyway" he stomps up the stairs.

"Don't take that attitude with me either!" she shouts up after him. He has learnt to ignore her as he heads towards his room.

She shakes her head "That boy" she mutters ' _Still this hopefully will be a rare occasion, I'm sure Nathanael doesn't usually attract trouble_ ' she heads back into the living room to watch her show.

* * *

When Nathanael woke up from a restless sleep plagued by nightmares of Carlo, Prison and Lila hating him. He felt more tired than he had been before he had shut his eyes. He stretched his stiff arms a feeling of relief washing over him as he realises, he had just been dreaming.

He pushes the covers off while glancing at the clock on his bedside table. He sees he has slept in a bit. Getting out of the bed he heads to the window pushing opening the light grey curtains with tiny stripes of yellow and white threaded through it. Sunlight flooded the room making Nathanael blink his eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness.

He turned and went to his bedside table picking up his phone. He checked and saw he had received a few messages. He clicked on Lila's first.

 _Rossifox: Hey I was wondering if we could hang out now?_

He quickly checks and is relieved to see her message was only sent a minute ago.

 _SuperNath: Sure, meet up in an hours time?_

Lila instantly replied.

 _Rossifox: Perfect 3_

Nathanael smiles and places his phone back on the small table. He decides to get ready first before seeing what Rose, Juleka and Luka are texting him about.

Nathanael sits at the kitchen table now dressed in a checked shirt, black jeans and black converse. He bites into some toast as he once again checks his phone clicking into Luka's message.

 _EmoStar: You still on for a game night? Ivan's pulled out cause he puts Mylene before his bro's!_

Nathanael rolled his eyes at Luka's sarcastic theatrics. He typed out a reply smirking.

 _SuperNath: Don't be bitter just cause you're the only single and yes I'll come round for game night unless Lila changes my plans_

He knows that will rile Luka up. He clicks out and heads to the group chat he has with Rose and Juleka.

 _Flowerchild: You enjoying having Lila back?_

 _MirrorWitch: Oh, I'm sure he is ;)_

His eyes narrowed he can already picture the both smirking and giggling behind their phones. His cheeks coloured red.

 _SuperNath: So what if I am! it's not a crime, she's my girlfriend after all._

He finishes his breakfast putting his plate and cup in the basin in the sink to wash later. He then puts his phone in his pocket before heading out the door making sure to lock up after himself.

* * *

Lila and Nathanael had been walking around town for a while and now Nathanael felt his belly ache with hunger.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" Nathanael asks. He looks to Lila with a gentle smile.

She nods "sure, we're near the Dupain-Cheng bakery lets go there"

"Great," Nathanael says.

They approached the bakery hand in hand but they have to let go of each other's hands to walk in. The small bell above the door jingles as they walk in. Marinette and her mum look over with smiles.

"Hello, Nathanael and Lila" Marinette smiles "When did you get back from Italy?"

"Oh just a couple of days ago" Lila supplies "But I was missing the croissants you made so much that I had to come back early" Lila smirks as she leans on the countertop.

Marinette rolls her eyes "Nice try but you're not getting them free" A smirk plays on her lips as Lila pouts.

"Aw, you're no fun!"

"Lila, leave Marinette alone" Nathanael nudges her. "So what do you want to eat?"

Lila smirked "I don't know there is so many to choose from I don't want to pick something and regret it"

Nathanael and Marinette's face paled as they remembered the other time Lila had done this. It had taken her ages to finally choose a cream bun.

She laughs at their expressions "I'm kidding, jeez you two are easy to mess with" they glared at her as she giggled. "I want a croissant obviously"

"Okay," Marinette says taking a small brown paper bag with the bakery's logo on it "And you Nathanael?"

"I'll have the same, please" he smiles.

Marinette nods and takes some silver tongs to pick out the croissant's and put them each in paper napkin's then in the brown bag.

She rung up the price and Lila saw Nathanael reaching his wallet she frowned "What do you think you're doing?" she stops him.

He raises an eyebrow "I'm paying Marinette"

Lila shakes her head "No way, I'm paying for this" she reaches into her bag for her purse.

"I can pay for it Lila," Nathanael says.

"No, I'm paying now" Lila frowns now having her purse out.

Marinette can sense this is going to break into an argument. "Look I don't care who pays just someone needs to pay" she chuckles anxiously.

Nathanael and Lila glance at each other. Nathanael sighs he knows Lila is more stubborn than him.

"Fine, you can pay but I'm paying next time" he puts his wallet back in his pocket as Lila quickly pays Marinette. A bright smile on her face as she got her way.

"So Nathanael how's that project you were working on coming along," Marinette asks as she hands the bag to Lila. She opens it and takes out her croissant biting into it while looking between Nathanael and Marinette curiously.

Nathanael's eyes widened and he rubs the back of his neck "Oh er it's kind of coming along slowly"

"What project?" Lila asks handing over the paper bag to Nathanael.

"Oh it's nothing important, you'd find it boring anyway" he chuckles.

Lila frowns but takes another bite of the flaky croissant.

"Anyway we better get going," Nathanael says heading to the door "Bye Marinette"

"Bye" Marinette waves her hand in a farewell.

"Bye Marinette," Lila says heading out after Nathanael. A frown on her face as she feels jealousy rise inside her. _'Not this again I should have learnt from last time…I guess I'm just the jealous type…unfortunately'_ Lila didn't like being the type to get easily jealous but it wasn't like she could stop herself. She trusted Nathanael, of course, it was the other girls she didn't trust. _'I mean it's not my fault I get jealous…Nathanael is so cute and sweet any girl or possibly boy would want him I just have to make sure they know he's already taken'_ Lila nods to herself.

"Earth to Lila!" she blinks startled when Nathanael waves a hand in front of her face. "Oh sorry I was-I was miles away" she laughs

Nathanael smiled "It's fine I get like that too, it's usually you doing the hand waving though"

Lila felt her jealously float away feeling silly for getting like that. She looks at Nathanael with affection in her eyes "Yeah it usually is" Lila giggles.

"Anyway I'm going to head off to Luka's unless you want me to wait with you?" he looks at her in concern.

Lila shakes her head "No it's fine I'm meeting Rose and Juleka down near the Mall so you go on ahead and play your little games" she looks to him with a teasing smile.

"Fine and you have fun playing dress up" he teases back.

"Oh I will" she smirks. She presses a soft kiss against his forehead that makes him blush "Bye then" she walks off towards the mall.

Nathanael smiles and heads in a different direction to Luka's boathouse.

* * *

Carlo was mad. First, he hears that the little runt gets off scot-free from ruining his handsome looks and now all his mates were laughing at him behind his back. He clenched his fists as he looked in the mirror at his bruised face.

' _I wanna make that little freak pay but how? Father says not to go near him again cause he doesn't need a scandal…but I hate him I wanna make him hurt more than he has hurt me!'_

Carlo doesn't notice the black butterfly that is pushing itself through an open gap in the window. It finally gets through and flutters over to Carlo landing on the expensive watch around his wrist. He feels a coldness take over his body as a purple outline appears along his face. A harsh voice sounded in his head.

"Eraser, You want help creating justice for what was done to you, well, I give you the power to take away certain memories of people in return I want you to bring me the miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir, do we have a deal?"

A vicious smirk transformed Carlo's face. "You strike a good offer so sign me up" A black aura with purple tints washed over him and now Carlo stood in a gold and white super suit with a gold hood attached to the shoulder of the suit. His wristwatch had changed to a sort of capsule watch and now he held a large golden sceptre in his hand.

"Now I have the perfect plan to make that little freak cry" he clenched his fists while he grinned.

* * *

Nathanael arrived at the boathouse and stepped on to it. He walks up to the door into the main living area. Nathanael knocks on it the door opens and Mrs Coufainne answered.

"Oh, Nathanael it's nice to see you again" she smiles "I suppose you're here to see Luka" she moves to the side allowing Nathanael to venture in. "He's setting up in the back" she moved aside to let Nathanael in.

He had to step over a mess of clothes and instruments to find a free space on the floor. He didn't mind the mess but he was sure if his mother saw the state of the place she would freak and go into cleaning overdrive. He wondered how Mrs Coufainne and his mum got along maybe it was because they had went to school together for a while when they were younger.

As if reading his mind Anarka asked: "So how's your mother keeping? Still rushing around like a worried Hen I suppose"

Nathanael chuckled "Uh yeah kind of"

Anarka nodded "I guessed so, y'know she used to be much more rebellious when we were at school together it's why she was the only one I could get along with, of course she did manage to keep good grades unlike me" she laughed.

Nathanael raised an eyebrow "I don't think I could ever imagine my mum being a rebel"

"Oh she was and she also had all the lads chasing her"

Nathanael screwed up his nose at the thought of men wanting to be with his mum.

Anarka laughed "Don't take that expression Mr, your mum was a real beauty y'know. Still is I suppose, it's just a pity that she had to get feelings for the wrong one"

Nathanael's eyebrows rose "You mean my….Father" he muttered. He didn't even like calling the man he never knew 'Father' he didn't deserve the title.

Anarka's eyes widened "Oh I didn't mean to cause offence just got too nostalgic there"

Nathanael managed a small smile "It's okay, I don't even know the man so it's not like I care about him"

"Hey Nathanael is my mum boring you with old stories" Luka smirked.

"My stories ain't boring," Anarka said.

Nathanael laughed "No, I like hearing about my mum in the past though I can't seem to recognise her"

"Well anyway, you're here to play video games not talk old tales" Luka grins heading back into the back.

"It was nice talking to you, Mrs Coufainne" Nathanael smiles.

She frowns "I told ya you should call me Anarka, Mrs Couffaine just sounds stuffy"

"Oh right, Sorry," Nathanael says. He bows his head and quickly heads after Luka into his room.

* * *

"Hey, Lila!" Rose waves her hand in greeting practically bouncing on her toes as Lila walks over to them.

"Hello Lila" Juleka quietly nods her greeting.

Lila smiles "Hi girls it feels like forever since I saw you!"

Rose jumps on her wrapping her in a tight hug "I missed you too!" she exclaims.

Lila laughs steadying herself and then hugging the petite girl back. They finally break away from the hug and Rose grins. "Now shall we look around the shops while we catch up?" The Italian and the Goth nod. They set off into the Mall.

"How was Italy?" Juleka asks.

"It was nice to see all my Family again and be with Nonna it's just a pity it was under such sad circumstances" Lila ruefully smiles.

Rose pouts "I'm sorry that you had to lose your Grandpa, I would hate to lose mine"

"Okay, can we talk about a happier topic because I'll start crying in the middle of this shop and I'd rather not!" Lila anxiously laughs.

"Oh, sorry" Rose lowers her head. Then she looks up with sparkling eyes "So you happy to be with Nathanael again?"

Lila blushes "Of course I am, I missed him a lot" she avoided their teasing gazes and plays with the bracelets on her wrist.

"Aww, you guys are the cutest!" Rose squeals.

"I know Nathanael missed you a lot during your time apart," Juleka says "He was like a little lost puppy"

Lila giggles "Really, he's adorable" she twirls some of her hair around her finger as her face flushes.

Juleka and Rose laugh at her behaviour. "You're defiantly smitten with Nath," Rose says.

"So what if I am we've been dating awhile now" Lila pouts

"We just meant you act more in love every day" Rose leans on Lila clasping her hands together "But its okay we know Nathanael is smitten with you too"

Lila giggles "I'm glad"

"So anything else interesting happen to you lately?" Juleka asks as they wander into a clothing store.

Lila is about to shake her head when she remembers the party. "Oh, I don't know if he would want you all to know but Nathanael kind of got into a fight standing up for me"

Juleka and Rose looked to her wide-eyed "he did!?" they exclaimed.

"How, why?!" Rose practically digs her nails into Lila's arm in her eagerness to find out the whole story.

Lila laughs and takes her arm out of Rose's strong grip. "It was only because Carlo, a jerk I have the unfortunate luck to know, doesn't know how to take no for an answer" She explains "Nathanael caught him trying to corner me and he just got really angry and hit him"

Juleka and Rose gasped.

"I never thought Nathanael would be so brave…" Juleka mutters.

"But it's still sweet, he wanted to stand up for you" Rose coos.

Lila nods "I guess, he did feel really guilty afterwards, more so because he thought I was upset with him" she moves on down the shop.

Rose nods "Of course he did, being Violent wouldn't be natural to him"

Lila is about to reply when her phone starts to buzz. She quickly checks it and see's Mia is calling. "Sorry I've got to take this"

"Sure, we'll wait here for you," Juleka says, browsing along the tops on sale.

Lila heads out of the shop answering the call.

Lila finishes her phone call with Mia with a smile. She had called to let Lila know that Carlo's Father had agreed to forget about the incident at the party. So Nathanael had no more to worry about.

She flicks through her contacts wanting to tell Nathanael the good news right away when she hears someone call her name.

She turns around and freezes. Eyes widening as she sees a strange boy in some weird outfit, holding a large sceptre.

"Who are you?" Her eyes narrow "How do you even know my name?"

He shakes his head "Already forgotten about me Lila, how rude"

She raises an eyebrow then she recognises his voice. "Carlo!" she gasps "Wait what's happened to you?" Her face conveys horror as she realises what's happened. "You've been akumatised…you better not have touched Nathanael!" she growls walking closer to him.

He grins "Oh no, Nathanael's true punishment can wait but for now I want to watch him suffer"

She raises an eyebrow "What do you mean Carlo? What are you planning?"

Carlo raises his arm with the wristwatch and then a blinding flash comes out of it striking Lila's eyes. She winces and covers them. When she looks up Carlo is gone. Her eyes dart around in search of him when she feels a painful headache take over. She rubs her temples but it keeps getting worse. She loses her senses and drops to her knees clutching her head. A gold shimmer appears in her eyes then slowly fades away.

Lila blinks then wonders why she is kneeling on the ground of the mall. She stands up feeling confused.

"Lila there you are!" Rose rushes up to her. "You were taking a while so we came to find you"

Juleka sees the confused concerned expression on Lila's face. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know…I'm feeling like…I'm forgetting something" Then she shrugs "I'm just being silly, now shall we go back to looking around the shops?" she smiles.

The girls nod but still look at Lila in concern.

* * *

"Yes, I win again!" Luka punches the air as his robot defeats Nathanael's on the screen. He looks to the pouting Nathanael with a teasing grin. "You're worse than usual and that's saying something" he leans back against his bed "What's the problem? Missing your girlfriend already?"

Nathanael shoots him a dirty look "Anyone would think you're jealous"

Luka places a hand to his heart "You got me, I have secretly been harbouring a crush for you but now you have broken my heart by going out with an Italian!"

Nathanael rolls his eyes "Oh shut up you drama queen"

Luka laughs "Naw, sorry to ruin your dreams but you're not really my type" he uses his controller and clicks on the options and selects a new game.

"Don't worry, I most certainly don't dream about you" Nathanael moves the buttons on his controller to deliver hits at Luka's robot when he sees weak spots open. "Anyway If I'm not your type who is?" Nathanael smirks, glancing at Luka who is starting to blush.

"No one you know," Luka says.

"I might know them" Nathanael is sniggering now.

Luka looks to him with narrowed eyes "What's Juleka been saying?" he snaps.

"N-Nothing" Nathanael is full out laughing now, tears appearing in his eyes. He says between laughs "Hey…Maybe we…should…go get….visit the…dupain-cheng bakery…I know _Marinette_ is there"

Luka glares at him "You're a little bitch" he delivers another finishing blow to Nathanael's robot a little too satisfied with that "And Juleka is going to pay"

Nathanael calms himself from his laughter attack "What you can give it out but you can't take it?" he smirks.

Luka glares "Your one to talk if I'm correct didn't you have something for Marinette a few years ago"

"That was just a silly infatuation cause she stood up to Chloe and I thought it was…cool" His face was heating up as he heard himself "But I was just a silly kid anyway I'm with Lila now and she's better than Marinette" he catches Luka's look and quickly adds "In my opinion"

"You know I've yet to meet this Lila as much as you talk about her" Luka exits off the game standing up. Nathanael looks up at him confused "What are you doing?" Luka grins down on him "C'mon we're going to go see your girlfriend"

"What?" Nathanael exclaims.

"Well, are you coming or not?" Luka laughs walking out of the room.

Nathanael scrambles up and chases after him.

* * *

 **Oh No, what's happened to Lila? You'll have to wait until the next update ;) hope you enjoyed and as always feedback is appreciated.**


	4. Keep up

"Luka are you crazy!" Nathanael exclaims speed walking to keep up with the older boy down the street "We can't just barge in on them"

Luka grins "We're not barging in, the mall is a public place Nathan" he sticks his hands in his pocket "You're acting strange, why don't you want me to meet Lila?" Luka asks "Unless you're afraid that Lila will like me more than you"

Nathanael shoots him a dirty look "Don't talk nonsense" he also stuffs his hands in his pockets straightening up to try and appear taller "Fine we'll go see Lila"

"Great, although we were going whether you liked it or not" Luka speeds up his walk much to Nathanael's dismay as he has to run a little to keep up.

They reached the Mall and walked in. They slowly wandered around the Mall. Nathanael's eyes darted about in search of Lila. Then he spotted Lila walking out of a shop with Rose and Juleka. She was laughing at something Rose had said.

He smiled. "Lila!" he called rushing over to her. His face had blush appearing across it. Luka followed grinning at his friend's love-struck look.

The girls stopped and turned around. Rose smiled and waved. Nathanael reached them and smiled at Lila who raised an eyebrow. "Uh Hello…" she looked to Rose in confusion "Do we know him?" she whispers quite loudly.

Everyone stopped looking around each other in confusion. Then they started laughing.

"Good one, Lila as if you don't know me" Nathanael anxiously laughed.

Lila frowned at their laughter "I'm not joking…who are you?"

Their laughter stopped and everyone's eyebrow's furrowed. "Lila, Its Nathanael, You're boyfriend" Rose placed a hand on Lila's arm.

Lila laughed "…I don't have a boyfriend" her brows furrow and her eyes glimmer with confusion "Do I?"

Luka raised an eyebrow "Bro, did you have a have a fight with Lila to get her to pretend you don't exist?"

Nathanael shook his head and looked to Lila with round concerned eyes. She may be a good actress but she seemed too genuine right now. "Lila, you do know me, stop acting" he pleaded. He swore he saw the green of Lila's eyes flicker gold but only for a second. She shook her head stepping away "I'm sorry but I honestly don't know you"

The colour drained from Nathanael's face. "C'mon Lila quit this it isn't funny anymore" his voice was shaking as was his body trembling.

Luka, Juleka and Rose were all watching in concern.

"Lila, don't you see you're making Nath upset?" Rose scolded. Tears start to well in Lila's eyes shocking everyone. "I said I don't know him, I'm telling the truth why are you trying to confuse me?" she yelled.

"Lila…" Nathanael muttered, confused and upset. He wanted to comfort her but how could he when she genuinely didn't remember him.

* * *

Carlo watched with a sadistic smile. The look on Nathanael's face was so sad, it was priceless. He felt like laughing out loud.

Then he heard HawkMoth's booming voice in his mind: _"Why are you messing about! I told you to get me the miraculous do you want to keep your powers or not!?"_

Carlo rolled his eyes "One, you need to chill out, dude and two, I was promised justice against the freak and finally three, do you see anyone running around in spotted suits or black leather?" Carlo crossed his arms "The answer is no so until they come out I ain't being anyone's sniffer dog" he heard Hawkmoth's enraged growl but then the man left him alone.

He grinned. "Now I think that's been enough, it's time to Gatecrash this little party"

* * *

Nathanael's eye's glimmer with confusion and sadness "Lila, you seriously don't remember me?" he hesitantly reaches out to hold her hand and she steps away a little shaking her head, he is shocked and heartbroken by this. He can see the worried lines appearing across her forehead and knows she isn't trying to joke, this makes his heartbreak more.

"Why would she remember you? You're just a nobody after all"

Everyone turns to look a boy in a white and gold outfit. Their eyes narrowed he looked very like an akuma.

"Who are you?" Luka asked a slight growl to his voice. He steps forward protectively.

"My business isn't with you so keep out!" he snarls back then glares at Nathanael "You on the other I do have business with and you're going to pay for what you did to me!"

Nathanael's eyebrows furrowed then he realised. "Carlo!" he gasped. Then he glanced at Lila "What have you done to Lila?"

"It's not Carlo anymore I am Eraser, I have taken all of Lila's Memories of you away!" He laughs "How does it feel to know the one you love so much to protect doesn't love or remember you anymore, it's torturous yes?" Eraser's eye's glint with twisted happiness.

Nathanael clenches his fists "Give Lila back her memories, your problem isn't with her it's with me so leave her out of it!"

Eraser smirked "Don't worry I haven't forgotten I'm going to make you pay properly" he swings his sceptre a golden ball appearing at the top on the clock design "Once I erase your whole existence no one will have to worry about you Freak!"

Nathanael's eyes widened as Carlo launched the ball at him. He needed to move but he felt frozen. Then he felt a force slam into him knocking him to the ground as the ball flew overhead missing him entirely.

His eyes widened as he looked up to the green eyes of his saviour. "L-Lila!" A blush was taking over his face "Why did you save me?" Lila leaned over him looking a little confused. "I-I don't know" she sat up a bit to rub her forehead.

Nathanael smiled _'The Lila that knows me is still in there somewhere I just have to get through to her'_ he also sat up.

"Arg, I missed!" Eraser complained "But I won't miss again!" his eyes narrowed in on Nathanael.

"Oi, Why don't you go pick on some trolls I'm sure that's more your speed!" Luka stepped in front blocking Eraser's view of Nathanael.

"Luka be careful!" Juleka hissed.

He glanced at his sister "I'll be fine, it's your girlfriend you better keep an eye on"

They all looked to Rose to see her eyes were filled with large hot tears, she was literally shaking with anger. "How dare you!" she screamed pointing at Eraser "First you decide to mess with one of my OTPs and that is unforgivable in its self but Now-NOW you want to-to kill my friend!"

"Babe, calm down" Juleka placed a hand on her shoulder.

Eraser scoffed "I'm not _Killing_ him, I'm _erasing_ his existence" he rolled his eyes "Seriously, your friends are all as annoying as you runt" he glared over at Nathanael. He raised his sceptre another golden ball appearing "Now stay still, unfortunately, this is painless"

Just as he raised his arm to throw the ball Nathanael felt Lila grab his hand and pulled him to run away. He heard Carlo's annoyed shouts. He looked ahead at Lila's figure. His eyes take on a hopeful light "Lila, why are trying to protect me if you don't know me?" he asks.

Lila glances back then looks away "I don't know…just instinct I guess and-and I feel like something was telling me to…argh, it's so confusing!"

They stop running as Lila comes to a stop and removes her hand from Nathanael's to put her head in her hands.

"Lila are you okay?" he asks.

She shakes her head "No" she whimpers "Why is it when I'm with you my head hurts more!"

Nathanael bites on his lower lip "I'm sorry" he lowers his head "As much as I want you to remember me I don't want to cause you pain so-so you stay here and I'll deal with this myself" despite the shake in his voice he tried to maintain a brave face as he looked up at Lila.

She lowered her hands to her sides and raised an eyebrow at him. Then she smiles "No way, I mean I don't know or even remember how but we're in this mess together somehow so its best we stick together" she holds out her hand.

Nathanael's eyes widened and his face turns crimson much to Lila's amusement as she giggles. He feels his heart flutter at hearing her giggle again like that. He slowly reaches out and clasps his hand in hers.

"Right, are you ready to run," Lila asks looking over his shoulder at an approaching angry akuma.

Nathanael glances over his shoulder at Eraser who growls: "Get back here you freak!" he looks to Lila and nods "I don't think I have a choice"

Lila laughs as they start running out of the mall and then Lila pulls them around a corner and down an alleyway.

* * *

They have been running for a long time while turning corners and getting deeper lost in the maze of alleyways. As they come out of the series of alleyway's they nearly crash into Marinette who jumps hiding her hands behind her back. "W-what's the rush?!" her eyes dart between them anxiously. They don't notice her strange behaviour too caught up in their own problems.

Nathanael is panting unable to speak he just points behind him as Lila does the speaking "There's an Akuma"

"An Akuma!" Marinette exclaims taking on a serious attitude her eyes narrowing.

Nathanael nods "Yeah, he's…after me…took Lila's….memories" he says between pants of air.

Marinette's face drains of colour and she looks at Lila in concern "So do you not remember anything?"

"Oh I remember everything" Lila smiles "But everyone is going on that he" she jerks her head in the direction of Nathanael "Is my boyfriend or something they don't seem to be lying but I don't remember ever meeting him"

Marinette's eyes widened as she looks to Nathanael shocked "She truly doesn't remember you"

Nathanael shakes his head sadly "No she doesn't"

Marinette drew her lower lip between her teeth. "You better get out of here in case the akuma finds you, go quickly" she chases them off keeping her right hand behind her back. They nod and keep running on.

When she knows the coast is clear she moves her hand back in front of her Tikki sits on it with round blinking eyes. "This akuma sounds dangerous"

"Aren't they all" Marinette rolls her eyes "But we've got to stop him and then hopefully Lila will remember Nathanael"

Tikki nods seriously "Just say the words!" she flies up in the air as Marinette shouts: "Tikki Spots on!" Tikki is transported into her earrings they changed colour and black spots appear.

A sparkling red aura travels over her and her suit appears and her mask settles on her skin. She grabs her yoyo from her waist "Right it's time to show this akuma who's boss!" she grins as she swings her yoyo attaching it to a hook on a roof then goes swinging above Paris keeping her eyes alert.

Nathanael and Lila collapse at a side of a building taking in large gasps of oxygen. Nathanael glances at Lila wondering if there's a way to get her to remember him. He feels his phone buzz in his pocket and takes it out. It is a message from Rose:

 _Flowerchild: I know how to break the curse! You just have to kiss Lila and true love will return her memories!_

Nathanael rolled his eyes, of course, she thought it would as simple as that. Unfortunately for Nathanael, he was not living in a fairy tale. He types out a quick message.

 _SuperNath: It's not a fairy tale curse and kissing her will not do anything except maybe get me slapped cause she doesn't remember me._

He put his phone back in his pocket and looked to Lila his eyes widened when he found she was staring at him intensely.

"Is something wrong?" he asks.

She rests her head in the palm of her hand "Yes…" her eyes narrowed "They all say-including you that I am dating you but I don't see how…I guess you're cute..."

Nathanael's face reddens at being called cute. "Um, Thanks I think…and you're sure you don't remember anything about me even a tiny detail?" his eyes are pleading as he looks to her.

She looks to the ground in concentration twirling a lock of hair around her finger then letting go as she shakes her head "Sorry I can't think of anything and when I try to I just feel a blaring headache" she rubs her temples closing her eyes.

"Oh okay," Nathanael leans back against the wall staring up at the sky. He knows he should let this go after all it hurts her and he doesn't want to be the cause of her pain but his mind tells him to ask more. He clenches his fists as his forehead creased. _'Maybe I just need to unlock a certain memory…like the first time we met?'_

"Hey, Lila who do you sit beside?"

She looks to him eyebrows raised "Sit beside?"

He nods "Yeah at School"

"Um…I sit at the back…yeah at the back and uhm…" she rubs her temples again "I sit there alone…" she sounds uncertain as she glances at Nathanael "Why does it matter?"

He shakes his head deciding it is mean to confuse her more "No reason"

"There you are!"

They gasp as they look up to see Eraser standing on the roof of the building. He jumps down landing gracefully on the soles of his feet. Nathanael and Lila stood up swiftly ready to make a run for it.

"No more running or hiding from you-both of you!" he glares at them both "I thought I had done a good job of erasing your memories but I guess that doesn't include feelings" he sneers "As long as you care for him you're my enemy too so I'll just erase the both of you together how romantic hmm" he tilts his head as he clenches his fist around his golden sceptre a golden ball appearing from the top. He launches it and Nathanael winces expecting to fade into nothing but in the nick of time, it is knocked off its course as Ladybugs yoyo deflects the hit. Thanks to its magic it is not erased from existence-entirely as it does start to flicker every so often.

"Ladybug!" Lila and Nathanael cry happily. Nathanael is also happy to know Lila isn't back to hating Ladybug he would rather deal with just one problem right now.

Ladybug winces as she looks at her flickering Yo-yo. "Great, how's this supposed to work…" she mutters.

"Oh, Ladybug how nice of you to drop in, now hand over your earnings and let me get on with erasing this freak and his girlfriend" Eraser grins holding his hand out to Ladybug.

She laughs "You must be from out of town if you think I'm that easy to deal with"

Eraser glares at her "I seriously don't need another pest" he makes another golden ball appear "looks like I'm adding another to my erase list" he launches the ball towards Ladybug.

"Ladybug watch out!" Lila shouts.

Ladybug knows she can't rely on her Yo-yo to block this hit or it may vanish completely. She has no idea if her yo-yo even works fully anymore but risks it flinging it over a lamp post and swinging herself above the hit. She breathes a sigh of relief when she comes to rest on top of the lamp post.

Then she looks at Lila and Nathanael down below. "You two get out of here I'll keep him busy" she looks to Eraser with a determined glare. They nod and run out into the street. Ladybug frowns _'This guy is too dangerous for me to fight alone…where has that cat got to?'_

"Don't tell me you started the cat-fight without me"

Ladybug looks to the roof to see a grinning Chat Noir. She rolls her eyes "You took your time"

"Sorry Bugaboo but I had purrvious engagements" he winks.

"Whatever just focus on that guy" she points down to Eraser the freezes as she realises he's gone. "Shit, where did he go?"

"He's after Nat-I mean that boy with red hair" Chat points out towards the main street and Ladybug sighs "After him then, oh, and watch out for those golden balls he throws they can erase your existence"

Chat's face pales "Seriously that's a bit dark…Hawkmoth must be getting desperate" he bounds after Ladybug across the roofs.

Nathanael ran pulling Lila along with him. He knows Eraser is hot on their heels he can't afford to stop.

"He's following us" she shouts after glancing over her shoulder.

"I know!" Nathanael hisses.

Lila frowns but says nothing concentrating on running as she turns a corner with Nathanael. They have to zig-zag around people on the street who look at them weirdly but then see Eraser and shriek.

Nathanael knows they can't just keep running and then he feels Lila's grasp on his hand disappear. He stops looking around to see she has tripped.

"Lila!" he cries "Are you okay?" he kneels down beside.

"I'm fine, just scrapped my knees not like I'm going to die" she jokes, checking her cut knees.

Nathanael manages a laugh despite the fact Eraser is fast approaching and his power does mean their death or well them never being born.

He arrives in front of them like an angry bull. Panting heavily and his eyes may as well have been glowing red with his anger "This is the last time you two get away from me!"

"You want to get to them you'll have to go through us!" Chat Noir says landing down in front of the duo with Ladybug beside him.

"Not you again" he glares at Ladybug "can't you two not wait for your turn!" he grips his sceptre tightly. Then a dark butterfly silhouette appears across his eyes. They see him roll his eyes "Yeah, Yeah, miraculous blah blah BLAH! I'll do it in a minute!" he growls.

They all glance around each other confused as Eraser and Hawkmoth continue to argue.

"what are we meant to do now?" Chat asks, glancing at Ladybug.

"Um…it would be rude to interrupt..." she nibbles on her bottom lip.

Lila sighs "Just summon your lucky charm already! This fight could already be over y'know!" she growls.

Ladybug blinks "That's a good idea"

"Isn't it just" Lila rolls her eyes.

Nathanael glances between them with a worried expression much the same as Chat is doing. Neither boys need another Lila vs Ladybug war on their hands.

"Lucky charm!" Ladybug shouts throwing her Yo-yo into the air. A flash of red light appears in the sky and then Ladybug holds out her hands as a hand mirror drops into her hands.

"What's a mirror meant to do?" Chat asks.

"Maybe if you hold it up he'll fall in love with his own reflection" Nathanael smirks.

"Sadly I think that would actually happen" Lila mutters.

Nathanael laughs.

Ladybug narrows her eyes glancing around and then at Eraser who is finally finishing his argument with Hawkmoth. The solution appears to her and she grins.

"I just need to erase his sceptre," she says.

"Won't that create some weird time paradox?" Lila asks, her eyes widening at the thought.

Ladybug frowns "No idea but it's the only idea we've got" she glances over at them "I need you two to get out of harm's way okay"

Nathanael nods "sure" he stands up and offers his hand to Lila who accepts and then he helps her up.

"Let's go hide over there" Lila mutters to him. She leads him quickly down the street and then pulls him behind a large tree.

Once Ladybug knows Lila and Nathanael are safe she looks back to Eraser who glares them down.

"Lucky for you I'm going to deal with you two first" he grips his sceptre "Now I would appreciate it if you saw sense and handed over your miraculous or else I may just have to erase you"

Chat laughs "That's lies if you erase me then how will you get the miraculous from me?" he twirls his staff in his hands.

Eraser narrows his eyes "Fine then if you want a fight you've got one" he swings his sceptre at Chat who blocks the hit with his staff starting to use it as a sword as they clash weapons together.

"Ladybug what's your plan" Chat hisses to her.

She smirks "be patient kitty I've got it sorted"

"You've got what sorted?" Eraser snaps "You can't defeat me I'm invincible!"

"That's where you're wrong!" Ladybug grins. "You're actually pretty pathetic for an akuma"

Chat raises an eyebrow wondering why Ladybug is trying to make him even angrier then it dawns on him and he grins jumping back from another hit. "Yeah, all you do is hide behind those powers of yours" he smirks "They're not even that scary"

Eraser growls "I am not pathetic and you should be scared" he swings his sceptre a golden light emitting from it "I don't care about your damned miraculous so how about I finish you off early"

Ladybug quickly takes the mirror in her hands keeping on edge ready to strike. "Go ahead and try!" she smirks. Eraser lets out a snarl then launches the ball towards her.

"Ladybug now!" Chat shouts, feeling worried for his partner.

Ladybug narrows her eyes then angles the mirror. Chat winces as the golden ball of light hits the surface of the mirror and miraculously bounces off the surface it shoots itself back towards Eraser who gasps in shock and quickly blocks it with his sceptre just as Ladybug had hoped.

There is a blinding flash that makes everyone wince and covers their eyes. Once it has disappeared Nathanael has opened his eyes to find Lila had fainted. He gasps "Lila!"

Eraser lets out an angered shout "How dare you!" he clenches his fists "Never mind I'll defeat you with my own hands"

Ladybug glances around his body looking for the object that holds the akuma in it and spots his watch. "Chat, it's in his watch"

Chat looks and nods "Right, leave this to me" he clenches his hand into a fist "Cataclysm" then opens up as a black aura emits from it.

Ladybug nods and runs towards Eraser swinging her yo-yo that had returned to its non-flickering self.

Eraser braced himself ready to fight the bug superheroine. He raised his fists to strike and Ladybug threw her Yo-yo tightening it around his wrists. He snarled and tried to struggle out. Ladybug kept a tight hold.

"Chat do it now!" she shouts. Her earrings are slowly counting down to her de-transformation.

Chat runs towards Eraser. He concentrates hard as he doesn't want to accidentally hit Eraser himself with his power. He manages to touch just the watch strap which breaks away falling to the ground. Ladybug undoes her hold of the boy as Chat being nearest stamps on the watches face a black butterfly flutters out.

Ladybug swings her yo-yo catching the butterfly inside it. She cleanses it then releases it "Bye-bye little butterfly" As soon this is over her earrings beep warning her she doesn't have long.

"Ah" she holds a hand to her ears. "I need to go"

"I'll see to the boy and check on Lila," Chat says already knowing what Ladybug will ask.

She smiles "Thank you Chat!" she hooks her yo-yo to a roof then swings off.

She manages to drop down into an alleyway a few meters away just in time as her suit disappears and an exhausted Tikki lands in her outstretched hands "I held on for as long as I could" Tikki says "Now I need a nap" she curls up as Marinette giggles.

"Thank you Tikki, I'll make sure you get loads of cookies when we get home"

Tikki smiles "That sounds great"

Chat rushes to check on the boy who groggily kneels on the pavement. "What happened?" he rubs his head.

"You were akumatised by Hawkmoth, but everything's okay now" Chat smiles.

Carlo narrows his eyes "Oh yes I remember it was because of that freak" he stands up.

Chat's eyes widened in concern "It's not good to keep anger in your heart, it'll just hurt you more than anyone else, trust me" he places a hand on Carlo's arm. Carlo pushes him away "I didn't ask your opinion!" he storms off.

Chat shakes his head and sighs. Then quickly heads to check on Lila. He knows he doesn't have long left himself.

"Lila, c'mon wake up," Nathanael says in worry. After Lila had fainted she wouldn't wake up for Nathanael no matter what he was beginning to worry about her now. She lay with her head on his lap looking peaceful almost too peaceful.

A shadow comes to stand over them and he looks up to see Chat. "Is she okay? What happened?"

Nathanael bites his lower lip "I don't know she just fainted after that bright flash" he looks down on her in worry.

"Well, I need to go but I'd hate to leave until I know she's okay," Chat says.

"No it's okay you can go," Nathanael says. He runs his fingers through Lila's long hair and then she moves a little. He gasps in hope. "Lila…"

Her eyes slowly flutter open and then she stares up at Nathanael. He holds his breath his forehead furrowing. What will he do if she still doesn't remember him?

"What's got you so worried, tomato?" she mutters affectionately.

Then he smiles his heart practically soaring. He had never been happier to hear her call him a tomato. She sits up and then spots Chat Noir. She frowns confused and then glances around noticing they are lying on a street she grows more confused.

"What's going on?" she asks.

"I'll let him explain" Chat laughs then rushes off down an alleyway as his ring beeps.

Lila turns to Nathanael with worried eyes "I wasn't akumatised was I?"

Nathanael laughs "No, thankfully you weren't"

Her eyebrows raise "Then what happened?" Nathanael stands up and helps her up. "It's a long story I wouldn't have the time to tell you," he says then begins to walk off smirking.

She frowns and chases after him "Nathanael!" she whines.

* * *

 **It's kind of funny how I had this Akuma idea for a long time and then we get an episode with a sort of similar Akuma but called oblivio and there's apparently an episode coming up called Partycrasher and I also had an Akuma with that name (in your lies are art, the first one)...Thomas Astruc should pay me for all these ideas, lol.**


	5. Fooling you

"Thanks for the lift," Lila says as she opens the car door getting out in front of the steps of francoise dupont.

"No need to thank me, Miss, I'm just doing my job," Charles says.

Lila laughs "Well, you haven't got me killed so far so you deserve thanks for that"

Charles laughs "Ah, well then Thank you, and have a good day at school Miss Rossi"

"I'll try" she smiles, then shuts the door and watches Charles drive off before turning and heading towards the steps.

Nathanael hadn't arrived yet, she rolls her eyes, he had probably slept in. Again. So, she made her way over to Rose and Juleka.

"Hi" she smiled sitting down beside them on the bench in the locker area.

"Hi, Lila" Rose grins. "Have you heard the news?"

She shakes her head "No, is it good?"

Rose shrugs "I guess, that girl Adrien fences with, Kagami Tsuirgi right?"

Lila nods "Yes, what about her?" she sits down on the bench beside the two girls.

"She's officially transferring to our class" Juleka explains.

"That will be our class filled up won't it," Lila says.

Rose nods "Yes, it will be nice though, like a big family"

"Yeah, a big family" Lila laughs "Just one that has an unwanted child" she mutters as she observes Chloe dumping a pile of books in Sabrina's arms, more than the girl could possibly carry on her own.

"Lila!" Rose chided.

Juleka raises a brow "She only says the truth…for once" she smirks as Lila whips around with a glare. Juleka just laughs while Lila sticks out her tongue.

Rose shakes her head but smiles "Honestly you two"

"What are they up to now?"

The trio look up as Nathanael approaches.

"Nathy!" Lila smiles and stands up.

"Hey, Lila" His mouth curved into a smile "So are you up to something?"

Lila's eyes twinkled "Should I be offended that you think the worse of me"

"I don't know, should you?" He chuckles.

Lila rolls her eyes but smiles and holds his hand.

"We were telling Lila about how Kagami is officially transferring to our class," Rose says.

Nathanael nods "isn't she Adrien's girlfriend?"

"Really?" Lila's eyes widen.

Juleka's brows furrow "That's news to me"

"Me too" Rose voices.

Nathanael shrugs "Maybe I'm wrong, but I was sure they were pretty close"

Before anyone can reply the bell rings signalling it was time for class. Rose and Juleka stood up picking up their bags.

"Let's get going" Rose beams and practically skips on to class. Juleka follows at a slower pace.

Nathanael sighs causing Lila to look at him in concern.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah" He gave a half-smile "Just don't know how anybody can be that energetic in the morning" He grudgingly makes his way to class, Lila holding onto his hand.

Lila giggles "You can catch up on your sleep in class" she pats his head. "Not that you don't already"

"It's not my fault, my brain shuts off when classes get boring" he huffs.

Lila giggles.

* * *

Miss Bustiers class passes by quickly with Nathanael, of course, sleeping through it. Then the bell goes, and the class gets up to go on to their next class. Stuffing the books in their bags.

"Make sure to get your first essays to me before Friday!" Miss Bustier shouts after them.

"Kagami wait up!" Lila calls rushing after the Japanese girl.

Kagami stops and looks around with wide eyes "Oh, Lila can I help you with something"

An amused smile appears on Lila's face "I thought we could walk together to class"

"walk together…" Kagami raises an eyebrow "You needn't trouble yourself; I don't mind being alone" she glances over Lila's shoulder "Wouldn't you rather walk with your boyfriend, Nathanael" she nods in the direction of Nathanael who is talking excitedly to Ivan.

Lila giggles "It's no trouble really and Nathanael is too busy talking about some rock band that I haven't the faintest clue about, so you'd be doing me a favour really"

Kagami smiles "I see you are quite stubborn Lila Rossi"

"You're a quick learner" Lila smirks.

Kagami laughs "I wouldn't mind walking together but I warn you I am not the best at conversation"

They began to walk down the stairs heading to the science classroom. "That's okay I can talk enough for both of us" Lila says.

Kagami smiles and nods "I do have a question though"

Lila looks to her "What is it?"

"Why do you care so much about being friends with me? I really don't mind being alone so you needn't worry if that's the reason"

Lila blushed "I'm not pitying you are anything it's just I know how scary it is moving schools and country and well I hated it especially when everyone is in such tight friendships so I don't want you to feel unwelcome…" she trailed off bowing her head.

Kagami smiles "That is kind of you Lila but I don't feel unwelcome, I mean, I've got a friend in Adrien he showed me around with his friend Nino and no one has been rude to me except that blonde haired girl what is her name…"

"Chloe" Lila offered.

"Yes, her, she once tried to make me move seats as if that's her property and then she another day, she told me to back off from her Adrikins" Kagami shook her head.

Lila giggled "Chloe likes to believe that she and Adrien are together, but they're not don't worry…anyway, why are you worried do you like Adrien?" Lila's eyes took on a mischievous twinkle.

"Of course not!" Kagami snapped looking away from Lila's gaze failing to hide the colouring flaring across her face "Adrien is just a friend"

"Okay, I was just teasing" Lila laughs. "But if you do have a crush-" Kagami shoots her a glare "I must warn you that he has a lot of crazy fangirls so be careful"

"As I have said I do not have a crush on Adrien so I need not worry about these crazy fangirls," Kagami says.

"Okay, Okay" Lila raised her hands in surrender as she laughs anxiously.

They arrived at the class and had to go their separate ways again as Kagami sat in the desk in front of Lila.

Lila sat down on the stool at the back desk and Nathanael soon sat down in the stool beside her.

Lila smiled "So has Mrs Mendeleiev been giving you a hard time while I was away?"

Nathanael's eyes rounded "Oh well kind of but it's my own fault I wasn't paying attention"

"So what were you doing instead?" Lila raises an eyebrow as she smirks.

A flush spread up Nathanael's face and he took to rummaging through his satchel for his notebook "Oh well um y'know just…daydreaming"

Lila giggles "Was this daydreaming about anyone I know" she leans her elbows on the table and places her head in the palm of her hands as she glances at Nathanael. Her eyes take on a mischievous twinkle as she sees Nathanael's face getting redder and still pretending, he can't find his notebook. "I'm just teasing, Nathy, Rose told me about how much you were missing me"

Nathanael finally looks up at Lila with a pout, she can't help but find adorable, his cheeks still raging red. "It's not nice to make fun of me!"

"I'm not making fun of you, I find it sweet that's all" Lila smiles "And you're so adorable when I tease you so I couldn't resist"

Ms. Mendeleiev walked in having the same annoyed expression that always graced her features. "Okay class quiet down!" she orders "I'm going to give you a test tomorrow to see how well you understand the topic so today we'll hold a revision class" she puts on the whiteboard to a slideshow of the different types of energy.

Lila paled. She had been gone for a lot of these topics. She wondered if Ms Mendeleiev would let her sit out this one. She sighed. She knew there was no chance of that, so it looked like she was sitting up all night revising.

"If it helps, I know you'll get a better mark than me even though you don't know this topic" Nathanael whispers.

Lila glances at him and can see he is also worried but is managing to smile for her. She smiles "Don't be silly, you need to believe in yourself more then I'm sure you'll get better"

Nathanael shakes his head.

"Lila and Nathanael!" Ms Mendeleiev's voice echoed through the classroom. Everyone turned to look as Lila and Nathanael looked to the front of the class room with sheepish smiles. "I'm glad you both obviously know everything already I'll be expecting full marks from both of you" her eyes were narrowed as she turned back to the board. The student's eyes also moved away from them as well.

Lila put her head in her hands. There was no way she was going to get out of doing the test now. Nathanael sat emotionless he was already used to his fate of failing at science.

* * *

Lila sighed as she walked out of the class. "I'm going to fail this test tomorrow"

"Well at least we can fail together" Nathanael looked up at her with bright eyes.

Lila giggled "Yeah, kind of romantic right"

"Like Romeo and Juliet" Nathanael laughed.

Lila's nose scrunched up "Didn't they die?"

"Lila! Wait up!"

Lila looked to over her shoulder to see Kagami rushing towards them. "Oh, Kagami what's wrong?"

"Nothing" she reached them clutching her books to her chest "But I can help you"

Lila raised an eyebrow "Help me? How?"

"By helping you learn the material for the physics test tomorrow" Kagami smiles.

"Oh" Lila's eyes widened "Really you don't mind doing that?" she reached out placing her hands on Kagami's shoulders.

"Of course, not" Kagami laughs "Let's meet up in the library at lunch to go through things"

Lila nods "Sure, Thanks so much" she lets Kagami go.

"Oh, Nathanael you are welcomed to join as well" Kagami smiles.

Nathanael's eyes widened "Oh, thanks but" he rubs the back of his neck "I have plans so I probably won't be able to make It" he sheepishly smiled.

Kagami nods "I see, well the offer still stands if you change your plans" she flashed a quick smile before rushing off to her next class.

Lila narrowed her eyes "What plans do you have?"

"I'm going to the art room" He replies, readjusting the bag strap on his shoulder.

"But you're always in the art room, it can't be too important to go" Lila's brows furrow "You could miss going there once to study for the test"

"I'll be fine" Nathanael sighs.

"Whatever we're going to be late for class," Lila says turning on heel and heading to her Math class.

Nathanael's eyes widened and he was going to chase after her, but he stopped and sighed. He turned and headed to his classroom in the opposite direction from Lila's.

* * *

Finally after a heap of boring classes the bell rang echoing through the corridors as Students scrapped back chairs, grabbed their bags and rushed out of their classes to meet up with friends and head out of the school to get lunch.

Lila put her satchel strap over her shoulder and zigzagged through the crowds of students then rushed up the stairs heading towards the school library. She pushed open the large door and peeked in she spotted Kagami sitting at a table in the corner. She smiled and hurried over.

"Hey, Kagami I didn't expect you to be here this early" Lila says as she sits down on a chair beside the Japanese girl.

"My classroom is nearby so It did not take me long to arrive here" Kagami explains "Now shall we get started on learning, it would be easier if you also had your own books out"

"Oh right" Lila scrambled to get her satchel and opened it to take out her notebook and textbook.

* * *

Nathanael left his classroom when the floods of students had subsided. This way he could make it through the halls without being trampled, pushed or shoved into a wall. He slowly made his way along the corridor and then down a set of stairs. He turned down another corridor of the back of the school and finally came to the room he had been heading to.

He walked into the Art room and felt a sense of calmness sweep over him. This was the room he spent most of his time in when he was hiding from bullies like Chloe but he was glad to have made friends like Alix, Rose, Juleka, Luka, Ivan and of course Lila that stood up and protected him. He found he didn't see the Art room as a place to retreat from bullies anymore but more as a place to hang out with friends and share their creative ideas together.

Now he was down in the art room because he actually did have lunchtime plans but he couldn't tell Lila about it because it was a surprise for her birthday. He wanted to make her something. The only problem was her birthday was very soon and his brain had zero ideas.

He sat down on a stool placing his sketchbook on the table and staring at it for a few seconds then letting out a loud sigh.

"What's got you so sad?"

He jumped and looked to see Marinette at the doorway. She smirked and walked on in.

"Oh it's nothing" He flicked open the sketchbook and it landed open on a page showing a detailed sketch of Lila looking out the classroom window. Marinette smiled "That's a pretty good sketch"

Nathanael's face turned red "Uh Thanks I was bored, and um Lila doesn't know about it so…" he frantically flipped to a clean white page shielding his other drawings from Marinette's teasing.

"You should show her I'm sure she'll like it," Marinette says.

"Oh I'm not worried about that" Nathanael smiles "I just never showed it to her yet but I will when it's finished"

Marinette nods "I see" she walks over to a bench picking up her pink bag of fashion supplies "So then what's got you so down?"

"Oh well…" he trailed off taking a pencil out of his pocket "Lila's birthday is coming up soon and I want to make her something but…" Nathanael let his head collapsed on his desk letting out an annoyed groan. Marinette raised an eyebrow "That bad huh?"

He nodded keeping his head on the desk. He sighed and looked back up "I have thought of everything but nothing seems good enough! I can't just give her another drawing cause that's what I always give her and it's too late to start making something big cause I'll never have it done in time…"

"I can always help you if you want" Marinette offered.

Nathanael shook his head "No, I need to do it myself"

"Oh, Okay but the offer still stands if you need any help" Marinette smiles then stands up to leave. Nathanael remembers an idea he had. "Wait, Marinette, you like to throw surprise parties right?"

She looks to him with round eyes "Yeah kind of, do you want to throw one for Lila as a class?"

His eyes brighten "Yeah, It'll help Lila feel a part of the class after all that happened long ago I think she still feels out of place but I want it to be a surprise so can you help me?"

Marinette grins "Of course I can, that's a sweet idea. I'm sure Lila will be super happy with it"

Nathanael nods "Yeah, thanks Mari"

"No problem now I better go, bye" she walks off carrying her bag of supplies.

"Bye," Nathanael calls after.

* * *

"So you just have to divide" Kagami points out on the book "Just use the triangle equation and it should be fine"

Lila looked at the textbook full of equations and blinked "Come again?"

Kagmai's eyes widened "Sorry did I say something wrong?" she bit her lip rethinking her words.

"No, No your French was perfect," Lila says "I meant I'm finding this part very confusing"

Kagami nods "That's okay we'll just find a different way for you to learn…how do you like to learn? Visual, auditory or by doing stuff"

Lila bit her lip "I guess it's a mixture of Visual and doing stuff, I mean I find it easy to learn long scripts and that's because we act out our parts"

Kagami nods "Okay, then how about you try some of the questions in the workbook" she points out some easy ones "I can help you through them until you understand"

Lila nods flipping open her notebook to write down answers.

After a while of studying together that passed by very quickly, the bell rang signalling the return to class. The girls slowly packed up their books.

"So what are you in next?" Kagami asks.

"History" Lila replies "You?"

"I've got gym class" Kagami responds.

Lila wrinkles her nose "Pity I was hoping we'd be in some more classes together"

"We can meet up for a few minutes at the end of school to go over a few last things but I do have fencing so I can't stay too long," Kagami says standing up.

Lila stands up putting her satchel strap over her arm "That's fine" they walk out of the library "Bye" Lila calls as they head their separate ways to class.

Lila slides into her seat beside Nathanael being one of the last to arrive to class. Marinette and Adrien had yet to show up. She glances over at Nathanael and see's he is busy sketching out comic book panels. She smiles at seeing him so engrossed in his drawing.

"What's the comic about?" Lila asks.

Nathanael glances up at her and his eyes brighten "I'm starting a new comic, this time about heroes in space"

Lila grins "Sounds interesting" she leans over to see the rough sketch of figures. "Is that an actual ship in space?"

Nathanael laughs "Yep, it's a pirate space ship it's kinda steampunk"

"I like the idea, you've got to show me more when you've finished," Lila says.

Nathanael nods as the teacher walks in "Sure, of course"

The rest of the classes past by in a blur with Nathanael mostly sketching out his comic and Lila writing down neat notes that he would probably copy in a hurry later.

The bell for the end of school rang to the relief of most of the students. Nathanael walks out of the class with Lila.

"I'm going to head on to room 33, what are you going to do?" He looks to Lila.

"Oh, I'm meeting up with Kagami in the library to go over the last section of the topic," Lila says

"Okay, come meet me when you're done" he waves farewell and walks off to the art room as Lila heads off to the library.

* * *

When Nathanael arrives in the art room he sees he's the first to arrive. He sits down at his usual place taking out his sketchbook to continue drawing his comic as he waits for Alix and the others to arrive. He is soon lost in a world of his own for who knows how long when he is brought back to reality by a soft voice.

"H-Hi Nathanael"

Nathanael looks up from sketching to see Marc standing anxiously before him shifting on one foot to the other. He smiles "Hi, Marc, can I help you?"

Marc nibbles on his lower lip "N-No, I just-"

"There you are!"

Nathanael look's to the doorway to see Lila standing there, Kagami is trailing behind her.

"Lila, you done with all your learning?" Nathanael smirks.

"Yes, Finally!" she walks in collapsing on a stool beside Nathanael "This woman" she points to Kagami who rolls her eyes "is a slave driver never agree to let her teach you!" Lila theatrically collapses across the table.

Kagami crosses her arms "I am not a slave driver you are just lazy and prefer the easy route to learning but it will benefit no one"

Lila rolls her eyes as Nathanael laughs at their weird friendship. Then he realises Marc is standing there looking nervous and out of place.

"Oh, Lila you've yet to meet Marc"

Lila straightens up finally noticing the dark-haired boy. "Oh Yes, sorry for interrupting" she sheepishly smiles.

"It's okay" Marc whispers ducking his head. He clutches his notebook closer to his chest.

"Anyway, Lila this is Marc we worked on a comic book together he's a great writer like you" Nathanael explains. Lila's eyes rounded.

"And Marc," Nathanael says. The writer looks up. "This is Lila, my girlfriend" Lila watches as a shocked look crosses over Marc's face.

"Your girlfriend you um you never said you had a girlfriend," Marc says.

Lila's eyes narrowed. She wasn't an idiot she could see Marc look liked his heart had been ripped from his chest.

"Oh, I didn't think it was a problem…" Nathanael raises an eyebrow at Marc's strange behaviour.

"It-It's not!" Marc blurts as his eyes widen and his face flushes "I was just surprised, s-sorry um I-I better g-go"

Kagami and Nathanael's eyes widen at Marc's behaviour. Nathanael stands to go after the boy. Lila places a hand on his arm stopping "I'll go after him you stay here, Kagami can keep you company"

"Why would you go after him, you've just met," Nathanael says.

"Trust me," Lila says standing up and walking.

Lila walks through the corridors then arrives on the stairs. She stops and looks down making out Marc's red hoodie. She silently pads down the stairs and looks under at Marc who is furiously scribbling in his black notebook "Hi, again"

He jumps and clutches the book against his chest hiding his words from sight. He watches with wide eyes as Lila crawls under the stairs opposite him and crosses her legs looking to him with a smile. He stays silent his face turning pale.

Lila glances around "Who would know sitting under the stairs would feel so…cool…it's like a different world" she laughs then look back at the anxious Marc. "Don't look so anxious I don't feel like biting" she winks and then laughs when Marc's eyes widen in confusion. He shuts his notebook clutching it tightly in his hands.

"So what are you writing?" Lila asks "Possibly me as a villain?" she says this in a joking voice but her eyes narrow.

Marc's jaw goes slack "W-What, N-No!" he shakes his head "Why would I do that I mean we barely know each other…"

Lila nods "Yes, but I'm not an idiot Marc, it's a wonder Nathanael hasn't noticed though I suppose he has always been a bit of an oblivious dork when it matters" she watches as Marc's face turns red.

"I-I don't Kn-know what you're going on about" Marc lies.

Lila rolls her eyes "Don't lie to a liar, I can see right through your lies" she looks to her lap "And I know you like Nath as more than a friend, right?" she looks back up to see an anxious expression across Marc's face. She narrows her eyes "Right?" she growls

He slowly nods "Maybe I do" he sees Lila's suspicious expression and gulps "But I'm not trying to um ruin your relationship! I'll um stay away, sorry" he lowers his gaze.

A rueful smile appears on Lila's face "Don't be silly you're obviously a good friend to Nathy so I'm not going to stop you from working on comics together or whatever, I mean I trust Nathy"

Marc's eyes widened "Ser-seriously? I thought-I mean you didn't seem pleased and I thought you were going to kill me and-" he stopped rambling when he saw Lila's teasing smile. His face coloured red.

"Sorry" Lila giggles "It's just I'm not going to hate you just cause you got a small crush on Nathy after all he's so cute and sweet and" she gives a cough when she realises she is rambling her face turning red. "I would be a hypocrite wouldn't I?" she lowers her gaze playing with the bracelets on her arms.

Marc smiles "You really love him don't you"

Lila's eyes snapped up to meet's Marc's gaze "Of course I do" her cheeks took on a furious blush "I'll be honest with you-I don't really deserve Nathanael, he's so talented, kind and adorable but even though I feel like he's too good for me, but I love him and you can consider this selfish if you want but let me assure you I don't intend to let him go"

Marc laughs "Okay, I get the message and for the record after that speech and seeing how much you love Nathanael; I can't help but ship you"

Lila laughs "I guess I owe you thanks"

"There you two are!" Lila glances over her shoulder to see a pouting Nathanael leaning down to look at the gap under the stairs. "What are you two talking about?" he frowns.

Marc blushes "N-Nothing!" he blurts. Nathanael raises an eyebrow "I mean nothing important" he says more calmly.

"Actually we were talking about something" Lila glances at Marc with a sly smirk. His face goes pale. She looks to Nathanael with an amused smile "Marc was telling me all about your comic you've been creating while I was in Italy"

She hears Marc's relieved sigh. Nathanael narrows his eyes as a blush casts across his cheeks "What about it?"

Lila had no clue what the comic actually is About but decides to wing it with her rare knowledge about Nathanael to help her guess what the comic is probably about. "I just think it's sweet how you want to be a hero like that" she crawls out from under the stairs finally standing up "But you know that your great just the way you are"

Nathanael's blush turns the same shade of red as hair and he ducks his head "Y-Yeah I know"

Marc watches with a rueful smile. They were quite cute together.

"Anyway, where's Kagami?" Lila asks.

"She had to head on to her fencing lessons as she was already late enough," Nathanael says.

Lila nod's "Then you go on back to your art club" She sighs "I'll just head home because drama isn't on until tomorrow"

Marc comes out from under the stairs joining the duo "You needn't go home, everyone is welcome at room 33 isn't that right" he looks to Nathanael with a smile.

Nathanael grins "Yes, of course, c'mon Lila you can still join for today, you can help me and Marc with the comic's script, after all, it could use a female's point of view"

"A female's point of view" Lila laughs "I suppose it's true we can't leave the saving of the world to the men"

Marc and Nathanael laugh. "Great, come on then the others have probably already arrived," Nathanael says as he rushes up the stairs. Lila and Marc quickly follow him.

They arrive back in room 33 to see Juleka and Rose had arrived and were sitting looking over lyrics Rose had come up with. Alix had also arrived and was currently spray painting the large board at the front of the class. She was spray painting in a large twisting serpent.

Lila walked up to watch her with wide eyes as Nathanael went to sit in his usual seat while Marc sat on a stool opposite him opening his notebook.

Alix spotted Lila watching and grinned. She stopped spray painting and lowered the mask over her face. "It's looking good isn't it"

Lila nods "Better than good" she looks to Alix with a smirk "But why the snake? I thought you're more of a tiger girl"

Alix laughs "Nope, Snakes are my favourite animal" she glances over at Nathanael "Oi, Nath throw me over the dark green"

Nathanael rolls his eyes "What did your last slave die off?" he smirks picking up the dark green spray can and throws it at Alix who catches it easily with a smirk "They Didn't die, you're Still here!"

Nathanael narrowed his eyes as Alix moved her mask back up and went back to her art. Lila laughs at his reaction. He glares then goes back to his sketching.

Lila takes a slow walk around the classroom looking at all the art pieces on display. Most of them looked like they should be on exhibit at the Louvre.

"So what are you writing?" Lila asks glancing at Rose's notepad. Rose pushes her headphones down around her neck and the loud rock music blares out of them. Lila raises an eyebrow "How are you not deaf?"

"She isn't yet but she's getting there" Juleka quips

Rose laughs "The louder the music the better the lyrics!"

"If you say so" Lila giggles. "I'll leave you two to it" she wanders off to investigate the back of the classroom. She notices two large cardboard boxes in the back corner. Her eyes shine with curiosity.

"Nathy" she calls. He glances over "Yeah?" she nudges the brown box with her foot "What's in this?"

He shrugs "No idea, no one's really cared before" he looks back down to his sketchbook "Why don't you find out?"

Marc bites on his lower lip "But what of she opens it and it's like Pandora's box and all these evils come out" everyone looks at him with raised eyebrows. He blushes and pouts "What! You can never be too careful"

"Marc does provide a good argument," Lila says. Marc smiles at her glad to have someone backing him up. "But if it's my destiny to be the next Pandora then who am I fight it" she smirks kneeling to open the first box.

"It'll be your funeral," Alix says glancing over her shoulder.

Lila laughs "We're here for a fun life, not a long life"

They all roll their eyes at her comment and watch as she opens the box and looks inside.

"So, any evils?" Juleka asks.

Lila shakes her head "No, but there is a heap of scrap metal and old cogs!"

"Wonderful" Nathanael laughs.

"It's a pirates dream" Lila smirks.

Nathanael raises an eyebrow "Pirates like gold Lila"

"Not the ones I know," she says as she looks in the next box. She says nothing more as she closes the folds on both boxes and walks back over to Nathanael to look at his comics "So can I see this great comic you two have been working on?"

"I thought you already knew all about it" Nathanael smirks.

"You're the one who said that you wanted me to look at it!" Lila pouts.

"Yeah, yeah," Nathanael says "I'm just teasing, something you like to do" he pushes the comic book pages towards her.

Lila blushes and looks at the comic book pages. Her pout changes to a soft smile "Wow, your art gets better every day!" Nathanael smiles "Thanks". Lila looks to Marc who blushes and looks to the table to avoid direct eye contact. "And the storyline is so good, it's unique and makes you want to read even more!"

Marc looks up with wide eyes, his face flushing "Se-Seriously?"

Lila nods and smiles "You're a great writer Marc"

He ducks his head fidgeting with the pen in his hand "T-Thank You"

"Everyone certainly seems busy!" Marinette says walking in with Luka.

Nathanael smirked at Luka who shot him a glare as his face flushed a little. Lila noticed this interaction and raised an eyebrow.

"What's that about?" she whispers.

Nathanael shakes his head "It's nothing, an inside joke"

Lila huffs. Folding her arms across her chest. She was getting annoyed with Nathanael and Luka's inside jokes.

As Marinette heads over to a free table to work on a Ladybug t-shirt she is making for Alya. Luka walks over to see what Nathanael is drawing.

"So, you're still drawing you as what's his name-Evillustrator?" Luka says.

Nathanael frowns "It's Mighty-Illustrator! You know this already!"

Luka rolls his eyes "I don't really remember stuff if it's not song lyrics" he glances over the comic then points out a figure "And who's the hero in black and white?"

"That's Reverser, Marc's hero version" Nathanael smiles, glancing over at Marc. Luka looks up finally noticing Marc. He smiles and Marc blushes and lowers his gaze to his notebook.

"Hey, Luka come check this song out!" Rose shouts louder than she needs to. Juleka nudges her "Babe, there's no need to shout"

Rose pushes her headphones back around her neck and pauses the music "What did you say?" she looks to Juleka. Everyone laughs causing Rose to be more confused.

"You were speaking very loud" Juleka explains.

"Oh, sorry" Rose giggles "Anyway check this out!" she waves her notepad in the air as Luka approaches.

"I better get going, Charles is probably waiting to collect me," Lila says.

Nathanael glances at her "Do you really have to leave so soon?" he pouts as eyes go wide and sad.

Lila smiles "Yes I do, we'll see each other tomorrow so don't look so sad!" she presses a quick kiss to his cheek causing him to blush then walks off waving goodbye to everyone who said their good-bye's back.

As soon as she has left. Nathanael flips to a clean page grabbing a ruler to rule out some space for some comic panels.

Marc watches in curiosity "What are you doing?"

"I've had an idea of what to make Lila for her birthday," Nathanael says, not looking up from his sketchbook.

"You have?" Marc says, only learning that it is soon Lila's birthday now "What is it?"

"I thought we could create a comic just for with her as the main superhero just for a change" Nathanael looks up with bright eyes "You'll help me with the story ideas right?"

Marc nods "Sure" he opens his notebook "So first we better start off with her superhero identity"

Nathanael pauses "Her identity…well, she was akumatised as Volpina but would she still want to go by that name or a different one?"

"It's okay we can plot out the story and just leave spaces where her superhero name is mentioned until you find that out," Marc says already scribbling down some ideas.

Nathanael nods "Good idea, I'll get Alix or someone to try and ask just so she doesn't suspect anything" he smiles glad to finally be creating something for Lila's birthday.

"You working on something for Lila's birthday?" Marinette asks. Turning around to look at them from her stool.

Nathanael nods looking over at her "Yeah, Marc's going to help me make a comic for her"

"That's nice of you Marc" Marinette smiles.

"It's n-no pro-problem really" Marc stutters looking down at the table.

"So, when is her birthday?" Marinette asks putting the t-shirt through the sewing machine.

"Next week on Saturday" Nathanael replies.

"That gives us plenty of time" Marinette's eyes widen "We can start planning the party now and get the things next week"

"Did someone say Party?" Rose asks.

"Yeah we're holding a party for Lila," Nathanael says.

"Oh, that's great!" Rose smiles.

"Where will we hold the party?" Alix says pushing her mask down.

"We can hold it on our Barge," Luka says "What you say Juleka?"

Juleka nods "Sure, Mum will be fine with it until we have to clean up the place that is" she smirks.

Luka laughs "Leave her to me it'll be fine"

"Right now, that's sorted, I'll write down all the things we need to get," Rose says flipping to a clean page in her notepad.

They all nodded and started calling out things that they needed to get.

"And me and my dad can bake a cake for Lila," Marinette says

Rose scribbles down: Cake – Marinette

"And is that it?" Rose says.

"It sounds like it," Luka says from where he is sitting up on a table "Now we just need to know who to invite, is everyone in this room invited?"

Nathanael rolls his eyes "Yes, of course, even though you and Marc only met Lila recently you are both invited" he glances at Marc with a smile.

Marc blushes a little and smiles back "Thanks, I'll try to make it"

"Great, then make the cake chocolate please" Luka smirks

"The cake will be whatever Lila likes best as it's not your birthday!" Juleka scolds.

Luka pouts "You're no fun!"

"Say's you!" Juleka retorts.

"Well as long as it doesn't include banana's I'm sure Lila won't care," Nathanael says.

They all look to him wide-eyed. "Banana's?" Alix repeats.

Nathanael nods "Yeah, Lila's allergic to them" he twirls his pencil between his fingers.

Marinette giggles "Okay, I wasn't really thinking of using bananas but thanks for the warning"

"Fine, we're having a vote off!" Luka declares "How many people want Marinette to make a chocolate cake?"

The room falls silent and Luka pouts "Seriously…" he grumbles. A soft voice pipes up "I like chocolate cake" They all look to Marc who blushes.

Luka grins and points to Marc "Yes! Marc has taste, unlike you lot!"

Marc's eyes go round and he ducks his head grabbing at his hood to pull it up and hide his blushing face.

"Still not enough votes for chocolate that's two against five" Alix smirks, tossing the spray can in the air and catching it again.

Luka glares at her and falls silent as he folds his arms.

"Well, if the whole class is going to be there we can ask a few others what cake they would like, only who we can trust to keep it a surprise, of course," Marinette suggests.

Rose nods "That's definitely the fairest option"

"Okay, so now we've officially got everything more or less sorted," Marinette says.

* * *

The next day Nathanael walked up the steps of the school when he hears a voice call him. He stops and glances over his shoulder to see Marinette run up to him.

"Oh hey, Marinette," he says.

She stops beside him "So about Lila's party I thought us two could go out at lunchtime and choose Lila's cake option"

Nathanael smiles "Sure" he winks "Of course"

Marinette grins clasping her hands tight "Awesome!"

"What's awesome?"

They both jump and look to see Lila standing before them with narrowed eyes.

"Ah, H-Hello, L-Lila!" Marinette stutters "Nice day isn't it?" she giggles anxiously.

Lila's eyebrows furrow.

Nathanael shoot's Mariette a glare to warn her to stay quiet. "Hey, Lila, Marinette was just saying about how-how er my comic on the school website was awesome"

Lila continues to look at them suspiciously for a moment then her suspicion fades as she smiles "Really, it's up on the school website? that is awesome!"

"Yes, Exactly as I said!" Marinette blurts.

Lila raises an eyebrow then laughs "Your acting strange today, Mari, it's not like Adrien's around"

Marinette's eyes widen and her face takes on a furious blush "W-What, Adrien? Why would it-it m-matter if Ad-A-Adrien was around?" she pulls on the straps of her bag.

Lila shakes her head and walks on into the school smirking.

Marinette looks at Nathanael who shrugs "It's obvious Mari, the only person who doesn't know is Adrien" he chuckles and follows Lila in.

He catches up with Lila who had stopped by the stairs to talk to Kagami and Alix. She had her phone out and was scrolling through something.

"What's going on?" he asks.

"I'm checking out this comic of yours," Lila says "It's the same as the one I saw before I thought it was a new one with the way you and Marinette were talking"

Nathanael pales "oh no it's just that-uh-that Marinette didn't see it until recently" he lies.

Lila nods "Oh okay, makes sense" she puts her phone away. She begins to walk up the stair alongside Kagami.

"So, Lila are you ready for the physics test today?" Kagami asks.

Lila anxiously laughs "Let's just say I'm glad it's after lunch otherwise I would be freaked"

Alix nudges Nathanael. He glances at her "What that all about?" she hisses.

"Lila caught me and Marinette discussing her surprise party" he whispers back "So we had to improvise"

"You mean Lie" Alix raises an eyebrow and smirks.

Nathanael rolls his eyes "Whatever it's only a white lie, no harm done" he begins to walk up the stairs with Alix following. She laughs "You're starting to sound like your girlfriend"

He directs a harsh glare at her "Alix!" he hisses "Don't say things like that, Lila's changed since then she's trying hard to not tell lies"

"I was only joking" she rolls her eyes "Sheesh, you're seriously protective over her"

Nathanael blushes "I'm not protective over her!"

Alix glances at him "Didn't I hear you beat a guy up because he was trying to force himself on her" she smirks knowing she has him caught.

His eyebrows furrow "What else was I meant to do? I saw red okay!"

"Like a bull" Alix laughs

"Whatever, we're at the class now so be quiet please" he frowns at her.

"Yeah, yeah" she replies walking on in with Nathanael following.

Then Miss Bustier walks in to take the roll call and class goes a bit quieter with the odd whispers here and there.

The next hours pass in a boring blur as the clock slowly ticks its way to lunch time. Nathanael is relieved to hear the lunchtime bell ring. Now it is time for Operation Birthday surprise as Marinette had named it.

"So, shall we head down to the park?" Lila asks "It feels like ages since we've hung out just us" Lila looks to him with bright eyes and a slight blush.

Nathanael's face goes pale "Oh-the thing is-" He bites his lip "I actually promised Mr Ross I would help him out with some…art things" Nathanael cringes to himself.

"Art things?" Lila repeats and slowly raises a manicured brow.

"Yeah, so I can't really back out now" Nathanael smiles sheepishly "But we can hang out just us later"

"Fine" Lila grumbles "So is it just you, he forced into helping?" she folds her arms as she pouts.

"He didn't force me and um…there are…others" He says. Lila narrows her eyes. He gulps "I better get going, bye" he grabs his bag and walks quickly out of the classroom before Lila can stop him.

As soon as he's out the door a hand clamps around his arm. He looks down to see a frowning Alix. "C'mon slow coach we're all waiting for you in the art room" before Nathanael can reply she pulls him down the hall.

In the art room, everyone who knows is sitting on stools or table tops. Marinette had taken charge using Rose's list to help her out.

"So Rose, Mylene and Juleka are fine with making or getting decorations" Marinette states. "You needn't worry either as there is no rush" The girl's nod. Marinette looks to the door when Alix enters with Nathanael. "Oh, good we were wondering what was keeping you"

"Sorry, Lila was asking heaps of questions" He rubs the back of his neck.

"That's okay but who's keeping an eye on Lila now? We can't have her finding out" Marinette says

"Er Nobody," Nathanael says.

"It's okay I'll go," Rose says "I'll keep Lila from the art room"

"Thanks, Rose" Marinette calls after her as Rose leaves the art room. She then gets back to leader mode as she looks down the list "Okay so that leaves just you and Mylene on decorations, for now, Juleka"

"We'll manage," Juleka says.

"There will definitely be a lot less pink" Mylene smiles.

The group laugh a little at that.

"Now that just leaves me and Nathanael to head out to mine to choose the party food," Marinette says.

"What about Alix?" Nathanael asks glancing at his friend.

Alix grins "I'm spreading the word and making sure people keep it a secret"

"How so? By using violence?" Nathanael quips with a smirk.

"Yeah, but I'm small and cute so it's allowed" Alix smirks back.

Nathanael rolls his eyes.

"Come on, Nath we haven't got a long time," Marinette says heading for the door.

"Right," Nathanael says hurrying after her.

* * *

Rose arrives in the corridor just as Lila comes out of the classroom with Kagami. Her eyes widen and she runs towards them.

"Lila!" she cries "Where are you going?"

Lila and Kagami stop. "I'm going for Lunch" she chuckles anxiously "Why? You'd think there was a fire"

"There isn't a fire is there?" Kagami asks "Cause if there is, we better start evacuating-"

"There isn't a fire!" Rose cuts in "I just thought us girls could spend Lunch together"

"Oh okay, where's Juleka?" Lila glances around.

"She busy but she'll join us later!" Rose blurts.

They glance at her in concern.

"Rose, are you and Juleka okay?" Lila asks, with wide eyes.

"Of Course, we are" Rose smiles "We're not joint at the hip you know"

Kagami raise's an eyebrow "Obviously, otherwise, you'd be siamese twins and that would be quite weird" They both looked to Kagami with raised eyebrows. "What?" she asks.

"It's a saying, Kagami" Lila explains.

"A saying?" Kagami repeats.

"Never mind that shall we go get lunch?" Rose says, "Let's go to the cafeteria now!" she grabs Lila by the arm and pulls her off. Kagami follows behind.

They arrive near the doors of the school and Rose stops eyes widening as she sees Nath and Marinette leaving. She quickly tries to push Lila into the locker section but isn't fast enough as Lila spots them.

Her eyes narrow as she watches them leave "Where are they going? Nath told me he was busy"

Rose's face drains of colour "Oh, well maybe they're just grabbing a snack somewhere else?"

"I suppose but he could have come with me for lunch" Lila pouts.

"Never mind you'll have more fun with me and Kagami" Rose grins. She links her arm through Lila's and pulls her off as Lila nods sadly.

They had come back to the classroom after getting some food. They were sitting around a table.

"I should go and find Nathy" Lila stands up looking around "I have no idea where he went to"

"You could check the art room" Kagami suggests.

Lila nods and turns to head off much to Rose's horror.

"No, No wait!" Rose grabs at her arm stopping her.

Lila raises an eyebrow looking down at the petite girl. "What for?"

Rose's eyes go round as her pupils dart around searching for a reason to keep Lila away from the art room.

"Well…I need your help!" she exclaims, throwing her hands in the air.

"My help? With what?"

"A song! Yes! A song!" Rose says rushing to her bag and taking out her notepad "I know you enjoy writing so I thought you could help me"

Lila glances at Kagami who shrugs. Lila sighs and walks over to join Rose at her table

* * *

After reading the fifteenth song that Rose had written for the band. Lila sighed. "They're all great Rose but I really should go find Nathanael" she moves to stand up.

"Ahh, No! I can't let you go near Nath-!" Rose face pales. Lila glares at her eyes filled with confusion and suspicion. "I mean-you are allowed near Nathanael, but you have to…" she bites on her lower lip. As by a miracle the subject is changed as Nathanael walks up to them with Alix.

"Hey, so what's going on?" He asks.

"Nothing!" Rose blurts "Me and Lila oh, and Kagami have been in here the whole time! Nobody has found out anything of the unusual!" she laughs. Alix and Nathanael shoot her a warning look.

"That's great, Rose," Alix says quickly "Now come with me Juleka has been looking for you" she takes Rose by the shoulders and steers her out of the classroom. "Remind us never to put you on watching duty again" she hisses as they walk out of the door.

Nathanael smiles at Lila who is too busy staring after them with narrowed eyes she turns on Nathanael with the same glare.

"What were you at?" she hisses.

Nathanael takes a step back his face paling "I was helping Mr Ross put up an art display in the classroom" he lies.

Lila's eyebrows furrow "Then why was Rose demanding I stay with her all lunchtime"

"She was acting quite strange" Kagami adds in.

Nathanael chuckles anxiously "She probably just missed you lots while you were in Italy"

Lila pouts thinking it over then gasps "You're right, the poor dear" she places her hands to her chest.

Nathanael gives a relieved sigh glad she had bought his white lies.

"Lila, we should go get our science books from our lockers before class," Kagami says.

Lila nods "You're right, you want to come?" she looks to Nathanael.

He shakes his head "No, you head on I'm fine here"

As Lila leaves with Kagami. Nathanael walks to the back and sits down at his desk taking out the pages of the comic he is working on for Lila's birthday and the few pages of notes Marc had written up for him. He gets started on finishing a panel with a smile.

Adding in the small details of Volpina's suit. He and Marc had decided to just go with Volpina. He is sure Lila won't mind and it is safer than asking her and causing her to find out their plans. He wants this comic to be better than perfect after all it is for Lila. He blushes at his thoughts.

* * *

"That test wasn't as horrendous as I thought it was going to be" Lila smiles walking out of the class "What did you think?" she looks to Nathanael. Her eyes widen in shock to see her boyfriend looking even paler than normal-which was saying a lot as his usual skin colour is near to porcelain-and his eyes were dull and emotionless.

"Nathy!" Lila says. She presses a hand on his shoulder and he slowly looks to her with furrowed brows "Was that test in a foreign language?"

She shakes her head "No it wasn't, Nathy"

He frowns looking down at the ground "I'm a failure"

"Don't say that" Lila scolds "You are great at loads of things you just need a little help with science, maybe Kagami can help"

"No, it's okay, it's too late for any of that" he mutters walking on with a sigh.

Lila pouts at his negative attitude as she walks alongside him. "Anyway, we just have Literature with Miss Bustier now and then you can go back to your little world of self-misery"

Nathanael nods slowly "Sure"

Lila raises an eyebrow. 'Did that test finally break him?'

"Hey, Nathanael was that test awful or what?" Alix asks running up alongside him.

Lila watches as Nathanael's face brightens. 'Nope, there's the Nathy I know'

"Thank you, little miss I do perfectly at everything" he shoots a glare at Lila who sticks her tongue out back making him roll his eyes, "thinks it was an alright test but no way! Mrs always makes tests too hard I'm sure there was a heap of stuff on it that we were never taught!" Nathanael rages.

Lila rolls her eyes deciding not to disagree with Nathanael's very wrong opinion.

"That's what I was thinking" Alix nods.

They reach Miss Bustiers classroom and walk in single file. All heading to their seats.

"Okay class as you know we now start our lessons with words of Kindness" Miss Bustier smiled.

Lila looked to Nathanael beside her with a raised eyebrow "Word's of kindness?" she whispers.

He rolls his eyes "You'll see"

Miss Bustier claps her hands together "Oh, Lila I forgot you weren't here when I started the new classroom rule"

Lila blinks and for the first time feels nervous with everyone's eyes on her.

"I think it's best if we show Lila what we must do, so Rose and…Alix can you two come up the front first please"

Lila watches as the two girls travel up to the front and stand facing each other. Lila is getting more confused by the second. She knows this must be written on her face due to the fact Nathanael is holding in laughter beside her.

"Okay, now girls please say one nice thing about each other" Miss Bustier instructs. Lila's face slowly dawns in realization. "Rose you go first"

Rose grins "I like that you don't care about other's opinions"

Alix laughs "Uh, Thanks…I like that you can see good in everyone"

Rose smiles clasping her hands together "Thank you, Alix"

"That was lovely girls you may go back to your seats," Miss Bustiers says. She glances up at Lila "Now Lila do you understand?"

Lila nods "Yes, Miss Bustier"

"Good then you can come up next, come along" she beckons Lila down.

"Oh, well okay" Lila slowly gets up from her seat and heads down to the front. She reaches the front and stands nervously waiting for who Miss Bustier will next call to the front.

"Chloe will you stand up please"

Lila's blood runs cold and she freezes eyes rounding. The class falls silent on the edges of their seats. Nathanael bites on his lower lip. This isn't going to end well.

Chloe scoffs standing up her ponytail flipping. "If I must," she says. Chloe stands facing Lila with narrow eyes. Lila's eyes narrow as well and her hands tighten at her sides.

Miss Bustier doesn't see the tension which is smothering the room and smiles "Now Chloe you start"

A sly smirk plays on Chloe's lips "I love how you just don't care what you look like"

A low growl sounds in Lila's throat as Miss Bustier frowns "Chloe" she warns.

"And I love how you actually feel confident enough to go outside with a face like that" Lila snarls.

They stand closer staring each other down. Anger rising off them in waves. In the back of the room, Nathanael puts his head in his hands. A trip to Mr Damocles office is looking likely.

"Girls stop this at once!" Miss Bustier scolds.

Lila frowns but then turns away folding her arms. "You're not worth it" she hisses.

"That's my line!" Chloe exclaims.

Miss Bustier places a hand on Chloe's shoulder and gives her a warning look.

"Now back to your seats we'll have to cancel the words of kindness for today and get straight into work"

Chloe grumbles sitting back in her seat as Lila trudged back to her seat flopping down anger still on her face.

Nathanael glances at her "Don't listen to her you know she says whatever bullshit that comes to her mind"

Lila nods flipping open her notebook. She was still tense and her eyebrows were still squeezed together in a wrinkle displaying her annoyance.

"And it was great how you decided to be the bigger person and not let your anger control you, I know that would have been hard," Nathanael says a soft smile playing on his lips.

Lila looks to him a slight blush on her face as her eyes brighten. "Thanks" she murmurs a smile highlighting her face.

Nathanael is glad to see her happy again and turns his attention to his sketchbook before him to work on his space hero's comic.

"Nathy the notes are on the board" Lila whispers.

"I know, I'll just copy them up from you later" he glances at her with a smirk.

She rolls her eyes and smiles "You get spoilt too much" but then focuses on writing up notes as Nathanael quietly chuckles.

* * *

 **A/N: I wasn't very happy with how canon has been treating my Fox queen so she and Kagami are very best friends, Thomas Asstruck can fight me.**

 **＼＼٩(๑`^´๑)۶／／**


	6. Broken Glass

After another day of boring classes, the bell rang, and Lila got up of her seat excitedly. She walks out of the class beside Nathanael. "So you won't be joining us in the art room?" Nathanael asks, looking up at her with bright eyes and a small smile.

"No" she raises an eyebrow "Shouldn't you act more upset about that?" her lips quirk in a teasing smirk.

"Huh?" his eyes widen. "Oh uh," he pales. "Yes, of course, I'm sad…" he chuckles nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

Lila laughs "I'm kidding Nathy"

"R-Right" he chuckles nervously. "I should get to the art room" he starts to back away "Uh lots of work to do!" he almost stumbles on an untied lace but catches hold of the bannister. He flushes red then hurries off. Lila raises an eyebrow and then shakes her head with a smile. "What a dork" she mutters affectionately. Then heads towards the drama room. As soon as Lila walks through the doors Miss Taylor greets her with a beaming smile. "Welcome back Lila!"

"Thanks," Lila smiles and glances around. So far only Mylene and the twins, Noah and Aiden, had arrived. She heads towards Mylene. "So, where's the rest?"

"They should get here soon," Mylene says. "No one will want to miss today"

Lila smirks "Why? Is it because I'm back, I know you guys missed me a lot"

Mylene laughs "Sorry to crush your dreams but it has nothing to do with you"

"Aww" Lila pouts. Pressing her hand over her chest pretending to act heartbroken.

"Today we will be going to the Theatre, Lila" Miss Taylor says, her amber eyes sparkling with excitement "They are planning to perform Bugsy Malone for their anniversary and that is where you all come in!"

Lila gasps, eyes widening in excitement. "Really? We get to act?"

"It's not for certain, there are auditions and drama kids from every school around Paris will be competing for parts" Lila looks to the door to see Sierra walking in with a smile. Liam followed her in with a cheeky grin. "But I'm sure your in for a part, you've got more chance than her" he smirks and nudges Sierra.

Sierra looks to him with furrowed brows and narrowed eyes. "I have more of a chance than you, they'll probably kick you out!" she hisses back. Miss Taylor claps her hands "Now, Now" she tuts "We should support each other, we are a team remember" she folds her arms "And I have faith that all my students are in with a good chance" Finally, the door opens with Aurore and Olivia rush in.

"Sorry we're late Miss," Aurore says.

"It's okay" Miss Taylor smiles then glances up at the clock "If we get going now we still have plenty of time"

Lila's eyes widen "Wait, was there a script to learn?"

She hears Olivia's quiet scoff.

"Oh yes, has anyone got one they can lend Lila?" Miss Taylor glances around the class "She can learn it on the way over"

"Here you go" Mylene reaches into her bag and takes out a dog-eared script.

"Thank you" Lila takes it with a grateful smile.

"Now then shall we get going, the driver is waiting outside" Miss Taylor leads ahead, the group hurrying after her.

As Lila tries to walk out the door, Olivia shoves her aside. "Just give up now, loser" she flicks her black hair over her shoulder nearly slapping Lila in the face and walks out after the rest.

"Ignore her" Sierra smiles.

"Yeah, she's just worried you'll beat her" Liam grins.

Lila smiles "Don't worry I don't let the likes of her get to me"

"Great, now let's go" Sierra grabs Lila by the arm and pulls her along.

* * *

The Bus ride wasn't that long and soon they were pulling up beside a large building. Its architecture was rich in history as was many of Paris's oldest buildings. The rag-tag group piled off the bus, hurrying behind Miss Taylor as they climbed the steps. The doors were open with signs to tell people where the auditions were taking place.

Lila turned her head as she tried to absorb the old style beauty of the theatre. The entrance had checked tile and white marble pillars, but once you went further in, your feet sank into the red plush carpet.

"This way, try not to wander off we wouldn't want anyone getting lost" Miss Taylor glances over shoulder.

"This is so exciting!" Sierra whispers to Lila.

Lila grins and nods "Yeah, have you ever been here before?"

"Of course, I've watched loads of their productions, but I've never acted in one, I've always wanted to though!" Sierra's eyes sparkle at the thought.

"I'm sure you'll get a good part," Lila says.

"And you" Sierra looks at her "Have you learnt something to say or sing?"

Lila smiles "Yeah, I learnt some on the bus ride in"

"Wow, that was fast!" Sierra gasps. They turn a corner following the rest of the group and then enter the main theatre. It is a large circular place with plenty of theatre boxes. The stage is cloaked with deep red curtains with golden tassels.

"Imagine if we got to act together! That would be great!" Sierra clutches her hands together.

Lila nods "It would be nice if all of us got a role"

"Well, you'd have to have talent to get a role in the first place" a voice picks up behind them "So that's definitely you out of the running"

Lila whips around with a burning glare unsurprised to see Olivia standing behind with her arms crossed and a nasty smile on her face.

"You should be talking to a mirror" Sierra cuts in.

Olivia glances her way "Shut up, I wasn't talking to you" she focuses her gaze back on Lila "I was talking to Lie-la" she smirks.

Lila rolls her eyes "Wow, I never heard that one before" she mutters "Go away Olivia that's in the past" Lila turns her back on her.

"What, you not going to say anything else, Rossi?" Olivia says, "Has the fake fox gone soft?"

"Oh, grow up Olivia" Sierra hisses. She grabs Lila's arm and pulls her away.

"Honestly I have no idea what her problem is" Lila huffs. She crosses her arms.

"She's just a bitch, doesn't like it when she can't start an argument," Sierra says "Ignore her, focus on getting a role, that will show her" she directs a glare across the room at Olivia who was still glaring at them.

"I'm going to the toilet, come get me if you all head somewhere else," Lila says.

"Okay," Sierra smiles.

Lila heads out of the main theatre hall. Stalking past Olivia who watches her go with a suspicious smirk. She glances around the room. Miss Taylor is too busy trying to calm Aiden who is panicking about forgetting lines. Sierra is looking at her phone. Certain that no is looking her way she quietly slips out after Lila.

* * *

Lila is about to head back to the group when she opens the door only to collide into someone.

"S-sorry" she stutters then looks up noticing it is Olivia. "Oh, it's you" her nose screws up and her forehead creases.

"Yes, it's me," Olivia says in her nasally voice.

Lila sighs "Would you mind moving, you're in my way"

Olivia pretends to think, then smirks "Yes, I would mind" Lila sighs truly fed up with Olivia in one day. "Look, Olivia, I've got no problem with you, but yet you hate me for no reason," Lila says, hands on hips. "We barely know each other so what's your problem?"

Olivia laughs, a harsh and cold sound that fills the room "I've got to give you credit, you certainly put on the innocent routine well" her eyes narrow turning darker "You may have everyone else fooled but you don't fool me, Liar Rossi" her lips quirk in an arrogant smirk "That role is mine and I'm not having some no good liar taking it!"

Lila sighed "I can't be bothered with your childish theatrics, now get out of my way" Lila moves to walk past.

"No, you don't!" Olivia shoves her back, Lila's back hits the wall. Her eyes narrow.

"Olivia, I suggest you let me past unless you really want to see me angry" Lila growls.

"Please, you can't touch me," Olivia says. Then the speakers around the corridors spark to life alerting all people that auditions are starting. Olivia grins "Oh looks like it's time for me to go" Olivia turns then stops glancing over her shoulder "You needn't worry about turning up, not that you'll be able to anyway!" she cackles and walks out the door.

"Olivia!" Lila shouts rushing to the door when she hears a click. Then Olivia's laugh as she walks away. Lila pushes on the door but it doesn't budge. "Olivia!" Lila shouts again hammering on the door. She knows it's no use.

"That bitch!" Lila curls her fists in "I swear when I get out, she's going to be on life support!" she kicks at the door. Then winces whining "Oww"

"You're going to end up breaking a bone instead of the door" A cheerful voice laughs outside. Lila's eyebrow's raise "…Sierra is that you?" The door clicks and is opened to reveal a grinning Sierra "Course it is!" "How'd you know?" Lila asks.

"Oh" she shrugs, a secretive smirk on her face "You know me, I see everything" she holds up her phone "and I'm so smart that I record all the evidence one would need"

Lila grins "You are a star!"

Sierra laughs "Just a normal day for me then" then her expression turns serious "Now come on we've got to show Miss Taylor before Olivia gets a chance to perform" Lila nods and they rush down the corridor. "She's on before us, right?" Lila asks.

"Yeah"

"Miss Taylor!" Sierra shouts as she makes a bee-line for the teacher through the crowd of noisy performers.

"She's too preoccupied with Aiden maybe we should just leave it" Lila bites on her lower lip.

"No!" Sierra frowns "We mustn't give up on justice!" she grabs Lila's hand and pulls her the rest of the way to Miss Taylor.

"Girls, what's the fuss about?" Miss Taylor asks, glancing between the two with raised brows.

"Miss Taylor, Olivia is just after locking Lila in the toilets to stop her auditioning," Sierra says.

"What?" Miss Taylor's eyes widen "Lila, is this true?"

Lila nods "Yes, Miss Taylor, she hates me for no reason"

"Well, this is a very serious accusation" Miss Taylor folds her arms "Do you have proof? I can't go blaming Olivia without it"

Sierra grins and holds out her phone "It's all here Miss, I recorded her but had to hide at the end so its not the clearest there"

Miss Taylor takes the phone and presses play, watching with a furrowed brow. She shakes her head "I can't believe she would do such a thing, I'm certainly disappointed"

She hands the phone back and looks around for Olivia spotting her over in a corner scrolling through her phone as she waits for her turn.

"Olivia!" she calls.

The black-haired girl looks up and spots Lila, she frowns and her face pales. Slowly she makes her way over.

"Yes, Miss Taylor?"

"Is it true you locked Lila in the toilets to stop her having a chance to audition?" she pursed her lips.

Olivia shrinks back and hunched her shoulders "What? No! Of course not!"

Miss Taylor raises an eyebrow "Olivia, I might have been willing to let you get away with an apology if you had just told the truth but to lie to me as well to pull such a nasty trick on Lila" she shakes her head "I can't let you represent our school, please go wait in the bus"

Olivia's eyes widen, her mouth fell open "What?" she growls "she's hardly an angel!" she points wildly at Lila "How come I get punished?"

Miss Taylor sighs "Olivia, to be an actress it is not just about you, being part of a team is an important thing and you simply aren't ready, now do as I say, or do you wish to be banned from auditioning forever?" her eyes narrow.

Olivia clenched her fists and threw a glance filled with fury Lila's way. Lila just raised an eyebrow staring the ebony haired girl down. With a _'Hmph'_ Olivia turned on her heel and stomped her way back to the bus.

Miss Taylor turns to Lila "I'm very sorry about her Lila, don't worry after the auditions I will have a private word with her"

Lila smiles "Thank you, Miss Taylor"

Miss Taylor hands Sierra back her phone "Now you two go wait with the others, go over the script if you have to" Her eyes twinkled "I have a good feeling you two will be in with a chance of a main part"

The two girls blushed at their mentor's praise.

"Thank you, Miss" they chorused then giggling they ran off to wait for their turns on the stage.

* * *

"I'm getting really nervous now" Sierra comments as she shifts on her feet. The crowd of noisy drama kids was thinning as more took to the stage bringing the girls closer to their turn.

Lila looks up from her borrowed script with a reassuring smile "I'm sure you'll be fine"

Sierra blinks her amber eyes owlishly at her "I dunno…wait, why are you so calm I'd think you have more reason to be freaking out, I mean you've only had the last few hours to learn bits of the script"

Lila shrugs "I guess it's because my Nonna always says if it's meant for you it won't pass you by and I like to live by her advice or it could be that I'm just that good of an actress" she winks.

Sierra laughs "maybe…thanks, Lila, I feel a bit calmer now"

"Happy to help" Lila smiles.

Then a woman with her hair up in a messy bun comes out from the doorway to the stage looking at the clipboard in her hand.

"Okay, is Sierra Romano here" she looks around.

Sierra gasps, eyes wide. Lila rolls her eyes and pushes her forward "Just pretend like it's back in class, you'll be great" she gives Sierra an encouraging smile. Sierra nods and approaches the woman.

Lila sighs and goes back to glancing over the script. Despite her encouraging words to Sierra, she could feel the tendrils of fear gripping her. Sure, it wouldn't be the end of the world if she didn't get the part but at the same time, it would mean a lot. It would let her know that she could make it as an actress when she left school. Grip tightening on the pages making them wrinkle up, Lila looks around the room at the rest of the waiting teenagers. She was next up to audition but there was a heap more after her. With so many auditioning how good were her chances?

"Lila"

She broke from her thoughts to See Miss Taylor looking at her in concern "Are you okay? You look a bit pale"

Lila nods and forces a smile on her face "I'm fine"

Miss Taylor lifts a brow "Are you sure? If you're stressing about being underprepared don't worry, I'd did alert them that one of my students hadn't been around for practise so if you need to use the script you can"

Lila shakes her head "Thanks for the help Miss but I don't want to be treated specially if no one else is using a script then neither will I!" she stood taller, her eyes sparked with determination "I want to try and get it fairly like everyone else"

Miss Taylor beams "I must say, Lila, your attitude is very inspiring" her face becomes downcast "I have no idea why Olivia would take hate on you so suddenly maybe she feels threatened?" she shakes her head "It seems I still need to teach her that to be part of such a big production it is about teamwork, even the person with smallest role is important to make it a success"

Lila grins "Wow…that makes me feel more excited to audition, I may not get a big role but even if it is only a small role, I'll get to be part of that magic"

Miss Taylor nods "Yes, exactly, I wish you the best of Luck" she looks towards the stage door as the same woman with a clipboard appears again.

"Next, Lila Rossi"

Lila bites on her lower lip and hands the borrowed script back to Miss Taylor. She approaches the woman.

"That would be me"

She smiles reassuringly "Great, follow me" she turns back through the door with Lila at her heels. "Don't be too nervous, the Pond's don't need perfection" she glances over her shoulder with a smile.

Lila nods "Okay, thanks"

Lila stepped onto the large wooden stage, her footsteps echoing. It was dark except for the spotlight positioned on the middle of the stage.

"Just go stand in the spotlight and face the back walls" The brunette stagehand directed her.

Lila took a deep breath and headed towards the circular light. She stepped into it and looked out. Sitting behind a small rectangular table was a man with strawberry-blonde hair and a woman with long red locks sat beside him.

They smiled kindly and the man nodded at her. "Lila isn't it?"

She nods "Yes, Sir"

He shuffles some papers on the tables and his wife beside him spoke next.

"Okay, Lila, just start where you want" she smiles.

Lila smiles and relaxes her muscles deciding to use some of Tallulah's lines. She preferred her character over the character of Blousey, sure Blousey was the main girl but she was so vanilla compared to Tallulah.

"Suddenly everyone wants to be in show business." She speaks one of Tallulah's lines, putting herself in the characters shoes and putting on a great act. She continued with the lines. Mr and Mrs Pond seemingly entranced by her performance.

* * *

Her time on the stage was coming to an end. She finished off and the Husband and wife team thanked her for coming and told her they would contact her if she got the part. Lila left the stage with a happy smile so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Sierra coming towards her. She crashed into the girl with an _'oof'_ Blinking dazed eyes, she shakily took a step back.

"Sierra, whatever is the problem?" she exclaimed.

Sierra steadied herself and then looked at Lila with large eyes filled with fear and worry. "It's Olivia, we all went back to the bus while we waited for you to finish auditioning, but she wasn't there!" she flings her arms in the air in dramatic fashion.

Lila's forehead creased "You mean she's gone missing?"

"Yes" Sierra nods "Miss Taylor's frantic with worry"

Lila sighs "She probably just wants attention" she shakes her head "Still we better look for her before she manages to become a missing person case"

Liam jogged up to the two girls "What are you two standing gossiping about? We've got a drama queen to find" he rolls his eyes.

"We know" Lila rolls her eyes.

"I'll head off that way with Liam" Sierra points down the street grabbing hold of Liam's shirt to tug him away "You don't mind checking up around those buildings for her, do you?" she asks Lila.

"No, course not, I'll be fine" Lila waves them off then turns and heads towards the buildings, mainly containing themed restaurants, cafes or more buildings made to showcase plays and musicals.

Lila smiled to herself as she walked along, Paris's theatre scene was really starting to thrive and seemed to be getting even more popular with tourists. She stopped and looked around, but the place was so crowded with tourist and Parisian citizens that she had no hope of finding Olivia in the crowds. 'Not she wants to be found by me anyway' With a reluctant sigh Lila turned and headed back to the bus.

* * *

Nathanael sat in the art room working on Lila's birthday comic. The rest of the class were busy doing their own things while chatting with each other.

He was concentrating on drawing Volpina leaping across Paris's buildings on the chase after an Akuma. Mighty Illustrator not far behind her on a large paper plane of his creation.

"That looks so cool!" Marc gushes.

Nathanael glances behind him to see Marc standing to his side. He smiles "Thanks, but it's barely finished" he sighs "I just hope I get it done before her birthday"

"I'm sure you will," Marc says "And even if you don't get it fully coloured, I'm sure Lila would appreciate it just the same"

Nathanael nods "Yeah, thanks" he picks it up and hands it to Marc "How about you look over the storyline so far"

Marc's eyes widen "Oh, sure!" he quickly scans the first few pages and nods to himself "Yeah it's great" he hands it back to Nathanael. "But there is one thing…" he looks to the ground and pulls on the strings to his hoodie.

Nathanael blinks "What is it?" he tilts his head "It's okay I can take constructive criticism y'know"

Marc chuckles "Right, I just thought maybe you should add in more flirting like Ladybug and Chat Noir are like"

Nathanael nods a thoughtful expression on his face "You're right"

Marinette, a few tables behind him, suddenly turns her attention from her sewing to Marc and Nathanael's conversation. "Uh, Marc what was that?"

Marc's eyes widen and he look's around to Marinette. "Um, I just mentioned to Nathanael that Volpina and Mighty Illustrator should have a dynamic like Ladybug and Chat Noir" he sheepishly smiles and rubs the back of his head "With the flirting and stuff"

Marinette raises an eyebrow "I mean sure Chat Noir is a flirt" she rolls her eyes but smiles "But Ladybug doesn't flirt back…uh, anytime I've seen them together that is"

Alix turns to the group and pushes down her mask "No, they do flirt, a lot" she rolls her eyes "Honestly Marinette how do you not know this?"

Marinette frowns "Well, why would they? I mean they're too busy to flirt" she folds her arms

"I mean they're dating aren't they?" Juleka comments. Rose hugs Juleka's arm "Yeah, they're one of the cutest couples ever!" Rose gushes.

"D-Dating?" Marinette stutters "What makes you think that?"

"Besides the shameless flirting," Nathanael smirks "Probably the many photos of them kissing"

"What?" Marinette exclaims, then her eyes widen and she more calmly repeats herself "I mean, what do you mean?"

"C'mon you've bound to have seen them, Mari" Alix strides across the room and plops herself down in a stool beside her. "There is only two and the most recent one on the ladyblog kind of confirms them to be in a relationship" she grins.

"I-I am sure they're out of context" Marinette looks around the group with round eyes.

Everyone looks to her in concern.

"Why are you acting so weird about it, Mari?" Nathanael asks, he turns back to his comic "Anyone would think you're Ladybug with the way you're acting"

Marinette's blanches and her eyes widen "What! Don't be ridiculous!" she waves it off with her hand and chuckles nervously.

The group all laugh. "I'm only joking," Nathanael says, not glancing up from his drawing.

"Yeah, your too much of a Klutz to be Ladybug" Rose giggles behind her hand.

"Right" Marinette nods "I'd fall on my face"

Alix nods "Yep, anyway I know why Marinette is so annoyed over this"

"You do?" Juleka says, she glances between the two "Please tell"

Aix slings an arm around Marinette and smirks "She's jealous because she has a crush on Chat Noir!"

Marc's eyes widen "She does?" he looks to Marinette in surprise.

"No!" Marinette exclaims, face heating up to a tomato red. She pushes Alix away from her "Stop spreading such lies!"

Alix laughs "I'm only teasing, naw, we all know who Marinette has the hots for"

Marinette's face that had been returning to its pale colour suddenly colours red again "Alix" she hisses. Bowing her head as she looked at the fox shoulder bag she was creating.

Alix holds up her hands in surrender "Okay, I'll be quiet"

"Thank you," Marinette says, finally relaxing.

Marc sits down opposite Nathanael "Uh, Nathanael, who does Marinette have a crush on?"

Nathanael glances over his shoulder at Marinette with a grin "Marinette, shall I tell him or you?"

Marinette glances over at them with a raised brow, hand paused in the air as she was pulling the thread through the needle. "Tell him what"

Alix stands up and heads back to her workstation "I'm guessing who you're not so secret crush is" she pulls her mask back up and returns to her spray painting.

Nathanael nods "Yep, I'll guess I should just tell him" he turns back to Marc "It's Adrien"

"Nathanael!" Marinette cried out, her stool screeched across the floor as she stood up hands clutching the table so tightly her knuckles were turning white. Her face heating up to rival the colour of Nathanael's hair.

"What" Nathanael shrugs apologetically "He's not going to tell anyone, and the whole class knows besides Adrien himself" Nathanael rolls his eyes.

Marc flusters "Ah, I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked, but I swear I won't repeat it to anyone!"

Marinette frowns "Still, what if Adrien had heard you, Nathanael" she slumps back down into her seat.

Nathanael laughs "Adrien isn't here, Marinette"

She pouts "He could have walked past" she hides her face in her hands "I wouldn't know how to explain it to him, I'm not ready yet"

Rose walks over and places a reassuring hand on Marinette's shoulder "It okay, Mari, he didn't hear" she sits down beside her as everyone else goes back to their own work. "Still you've had many chances to work up the courage to tell him, why don't you do it?"

Marinette removes her hands from her face and shakes her head, her eyes becoming watery "He likes that new girl Kagami, I have no chance!" she hangs her head.

"Don't say that!" Rose scolds her "You have every chance, maybe more than her, he has known you longer"

"Yeah, but I'm just a friend in his eyes" Marinette sighs.

Nathanael places his pencil on the table and turns around in his stool "If you keep thinking that way then yeah you have no chance, I understand, of course, I thought I had no chance with Lila" he bows his head cheeks colouring "But I took the chance of telling her and look at us now" he looks back up at Marinette with a grin "It might be the same for you and Adrien"

Marinette smile's "Thanks, Nathanael" she fiddles with the needle in her hand "Maybe I will tell him…not right now...but soon"

The group nods and smiles.

"Whenever you want, Marinette, we only want what's best for you" Rose hugs her.

Marinette laughs "Thank you, Rose"

* * *

Lila stepped onto the bus to see everyone else back in their seats except Olivia. She sat down beside Sierra "So, where is she?"

Sierra made an annoyed face "Refused to come said she'd rather walk home than share a bus with a thief"

Lila sighed "Fine by me, I honestly couldn't be bothered with dealing with her"

"I think Miss Taylor shares your opinion," Sierra says. Just at that moment, Miss Taylor steps onto the bus telling the driver it was okay to leave now.

She sat down on the front passenger seat then turned around to look at the small group left "I just had a talk with Mr and Mrs Pond and they said they would message me if any of you get a part, I have good faith in you all and remember even if you don't get a part your still all stars in the making" she beams.

The group nods and smile. Lila turns to look at the passing scenery out her window. Hopeful that she would get a part.

* * *

A/N: Thank you all for reading this chapter, leave a comment of what you thought I always appreciate feedback.

 **Next time on Your Lie's are Art 2: Lila is excited to attend Nathanael's first art convention with him, but who's that lurking in the shadows and what exactly are they up to?**


	7. 53 Steps

"This is so exciting!" Lila exclaims bouncing on the soles of her feet. Her eyes dart about the large Hall.

Nathanael rolls his eyes as he continues to set up his table "Lila, Please"

Lila pays no attention to him as she looks down at some of his prints her eyes shining "These are so cool!" she grins.

He sighs, the event hadn't even started yet and Lila was acting like a kid high on sugar. "Lila you need to calm the hell down"

Lila continues smiling "I can't calm down!" she garbs Nathanael in a tight hug. He frowns but can't help blushing. "My boyfriend is so talented!"

"Yeah, Thanks but you're kinda crushing my ribs" Nathanael gasps out.

"Oh!" she lets him free of the hug and he gasps for air. Lila giggles "Sorry I'm just so excited!"

"Yeah, I think that's obvious by now" Nathanael smirks and finally finishes setting up the table the way he wants it.

"You done?" Lila asks, keen green eyes darting over the table and Nathanael's various works.

He nods, he can feel his stomach full of butterfly's- hopefully none of the akuma kind- He pulls on his blazer and then runs a Hand through his hair. Lila glances at him and see's he is nervous.

"Nathy, You nervous?"

He pales and nods "Y-yeah this is my first time…What if no one likes my art? I'm going to make a mess of it!"

Lila shakes her head and places her hands on Nathanael's shoulders as he looks up at her round-eyed. "You're not going to make a mess of anything, If your art isn't good enough then you wouldn't have all those fans on that blog of yours"

Nathanael nods "I don't really like calling them fans, they're people like me but I suppose you're right"

Lila smirks "Of course I am, am I ever wrong?"

"Yes, many times" Nathanael deadpans.

Lila pouts "I shall ignore that because today I have the honour of being your helper!" she claps her hands lightly and turns to look out across the convention space with a determined look.

Nathanael laughs "You just have to greet possible customers if I'm caught up in a commission"

"And keep you right," Lila says.

Nathanael rolls his eyes "Yes, and keep me right"

Lila looks to the other half of the table and her forehead creases "So where is the person you have to share the booth with?" she takes out her phone from her pocket "If they don't get here in here in the next second they won't have time to set up before opening"

Nathanael shrugs "No idea"

"I told you I could pay for you to get a standard booth to yourself" Lila sighs.

Nathanael frowns "I don't need you paying for me" he folds his arms.

Lila rolls her eyes "Yeah, Yeah you're an independent man don't need a sugar mama" she winks.

Nathanael's face tur+ns red and he shoots a glare in her direction. She starts to laugh.

"Shut up!" he hisses.

Lila just continues to laugh and wipes tears from her eyes. "Y-your face"

Nathanael frowns and sighs. He looks at the cash box on the table and his forehead creases as he wonders if he remembered to get that change. He open's it and his eyes round in horror as he realises, he didn't.

"What's wrong now?" Lila asks.

Nathanael smiles sheepishly "I forgot to get that change"

Lila smirks "Ah so you do need your sugar mama to get you money"

"Stop calling yourself that or people will start thinking weird things" He hisses, eyes narrowing.

Lila giggles "How are you going to stop me?"

He crosses his arms "I'll break up with you" a teasing smile plays on his face.

Lila pretend gasps "You wouldn't!"

"I would!" he retorts though his teasing smile gives away he is lying.

"Okay I'll stop," she says, eyes still twinkling mischievously. "And I'll go off and get your money, how much do you need?"

Nathanael bites his lip "Er about a hundred euro?"

"That all?" Lila goes over to her bag and reaches into and takes out her purse. Nathanael raises an eyebrow as she flicks through her notes and counts out a hundred. She hands it to a shocked Nathanael with a smile.

"What the hell are you doing carrying that much money around?" Nathanael hisses.

Lila shrugs "It's not that much I mean I've still got some left and I've got my credit cards"

His eyes widen "We are from very different worlds"

She raises an eyebrow "What do you mean?"

"I mean you're too rich for your own good," Nathanael says as he puts the money into the cash box.

"And what about the ones with credit cards?" Lila asks, "do you have a card reader?"

Nathanael's eyes widen and he turns paler than normal "…no"

Lila giggles "Looks like it's Lila to the rescue!"

"Huh?" he raises an eyebrow as Lila reaches for her bag and takes out a small white chip "Look just attach this to your phone and it reads credit cards"

Nathanael blinks "Really, how'd you even think to get one?"

"Because I'm just that good" she taps him on the nose.

He rolls his eyes but gratefully takes the small card reader "Thank you, Lila, I'm glad you came with me"

Then there is a crash and cry of "Oh dear!" Lila and Nathanael look to see a girl around the same age as both of them had tripped and dropped all her supplies around her. The first noticeable thing about her is her hair died a pale pink and up in space buns. The next thing noticeable about her is her fashion style which was very pastel Goth.

"I'm guessing that's who I'm sharing this booth with," Nathanael says.

Lila slowly nods "And I'm guessing she's the one most likely of making a mess of things"

"Lila!" Nathanael furrows his eyebrows "Don't be mean"

"I said guessing so it was not mean" Lila pouts.

Nathanael rolls his eyes "Still we better help her" he says.

"I don't know it's kind of funny watching her pick things up only to drop them again" Lila smirks.

Nathanael glares up at her "Now that is mean and kind of sadistic!" he grabs her arm "Come on you're definitely helping now!"

"Why today of all days do I have to be a mess!" the girl mutters to herself as Nathanael approaches dragging an unwilling Lila.

Nathanael speaks first "Hi…"

The girl looks up and her grey eyes widen "Oh, I'm so sorry I'll get this cleared up right now!" she picks up her portfolio and then reaches to get her pink supply box only to drop her portfolio again. It flips open to show some of her artwork.

Nathanael and Lila tilt their heads to look at it. It was very much like the artist who drew cute drawings in pastel colours.

"No, I'm not annoyed I came to help you" Nathanael smiles.

She looks up once more and blushes "Really, that's so sweet you're like a real prince char-" she cuts off when she sees Lila shooting a vicious warning glare. She quickly gets the message and gives a small cough "I mean thanks that would be a great help"

Nathanael kneels and starts to pick up some of the fallen supplies. He shoots Lila a look and she kneels as well, grumbling to herself, her nose scrunching as she frowns.

"I'm Nathanael, and that's Lila" Nathanael says.

"I'm his girlfriend" Lila quickly inputs. Nathanael raises an eyebrow and glances at her she avoids his gaze.

The girl giggles "I guessed that" she smiles "I'm Angelica but my friends call me Angel"

"So, have you had a booth at a convention before?" Nathanael asks.

Angelica nods "Once this will be my second time what about you…or is your girlfriend the artist?" she glances at Lila with a raised eyebrow.

Nathanael chuckles "I'm the artist or at least I try to be"

Lila pouts "I'm actually an actress" she glares at Angelica who nods but doesn't look the least bit interested.

Nathanael rolls his eyes. He was not blind or naïve he could see that Lila was going figurately green with jealousy– Over nothing in his opinion and it wasn't a good look on her.

They finally had picked up all of Angelica's stuff and Lila shoved her collection into Angelica's arms glaring at the girl before turning around hair flying over her shoulders and she walks back to Nathanael's part of the table her hands curled into fists at her sides.

Angelica frowns as she watches her leave "You ever noticed that your girlfriend is kind of territorial over you"

Nathanael sighs "She's not that bad, I swear"

Angelica just raises an eyebrow but shrugs "Whatever, none of my business" Nathanael frowns a little.

They walk over to Angelica's booth and Nathanael sets the stuff he is carrying on to the table.

"You need help setting up?" Nathanael asks.

"That's kind of you but I'd rather not get mauled to death by your girlfriend" she glances over at Lila who is sitting on her seat glaring at them but when Nathanael glances at her she quickly looks away. He rolls his eyes and smirks.

"Yeah, I better go back to her" Nathanael laughs. He heads back over to Lila who refuses to look at him.

"What's wrong with you?" he asks with a frown, walking around behind the table.

"Oh!" Lila exclaims "You're talking to me now, you sure you don't want to ask your new friend that!"

Nathanael sighs "Lila, seriously you're embarrassing yourself"

"I'm not the embarrassing one" Lila hisses glancing at Angelica who is quickly setting up her side of the table. "She's the one who dresses like she's five when she's about eighteen"

Nathanael frowns "Lila, don't be mean!" he folds his arms "If you're going to act like that then you should just leave"

Lila's eyes widen and she looks down in shame "I'm sorry, you're right I shouldn't be so quick to hate on her"

Nathanael nods and puts his attention to yet again making sure everything is placed where it should be just as the event is starting.

* * *

Olivia walked through the large hall and passed many booths her eyes darting around for one in particular. If her information was correct then her target- the thief and liar, Lila Rossi should be here with her loser boyfriend.

She stops at the side of a Booth and peeks out and her eyes narrow as across from her is Lila helping her Boyfriend out at his booth. Oliva's features twisted in anger and her eyes burned with jealousy – Not that she would admit she was jealous. Here was Lila Rossi not even caring that she had made a fool of Olivia's reputation. Her hands curled into fists at her side and she hid behind the booth to avoid being spotted.

Today she would start her plan and take away everything Lila cared for.

* * *

The Event had been on for a while and Nathanael's nerves from the start had slowly disappeared as he was doing quite well for his first time having a booth. Lila herself was kind of bored having not much to do herself except talk to people while they waited for Nathanael to finish talking to others or finish a commission. She waited until Nathanael was done talking to the person then called his name.

"Nathanael"

He looked to her with a smile. "Yeah?"

"I'm going to go get a drink you want anything?" she asks, taking her bag from the chair at the back.

"Can you get me a coffee?" he says.

She nods "Sure, I'll be back soon" she smiles and walks off

Olivia peeked around again and saw Lila leaving. Her eyes narrowed and she smirked. Finally, he was alone she put her plan into action.

She flicked her long plait over her shoulder and headed towards Nathanael's booth. Fixing a sweet smile on her face as well as rehearsing a sweet personality in her head she came to a stop in front of the table.

Nathanael looked to her "Hello"

"Hi, your Nathanael right!" she says, enthusiastically.

His eyes widen and he nods "Yes, you are?"

"I'm Olivia" she smiles and presses a hand to her chest.

Nathanael's eyes narrow as he wonders where the hell, he is meant to know her from when it comes to him. "Oh, yeah I think I've seen you around the school," Nathanael says, "You go to François Dupont right?"

Olivia pauses then nods "Yes, I've seen you around too, your kind of hard to miss" she places her hands on the table leaning closer to him.

Nathanael raises an eyebrow "Okay…" he moves a few steps away "So do you want to check out my portfolio?" he asks "Most of my work is superhero based so I'm not sure if you're interested in that" he glances over her.

"I love Superheroes!" Olivia exclaims. That is a lie she couldn't care less about superheroes or any of the other stuff Nathanael was interested in she found it all stupid and loser-like but she was determined to put on act to steal Lila's boyfriend.

"That's good," Nathanael says, he manages a smile, but he feels a weird suspicion about this Oliva, He ignores it sure he is being silly. He pushes his Portfolio book towards her. She slowly flicks through it and gushes about how amazing it all is. Nathanael's eyes narrow as she is overdoing it and can tell she is being fake.

His eyes flickered with annoyance and he pressed his lips together as his eyebrows creased. Just in time, a few new people walked up to the table. He moved away from Olivia to talk to them a soft smile appearing back on his face.

She frowned at the fact he wasn't paying attention to her anymore but then she spotted Lila making her way through the crowds back to the booth. She gasped and quickly rushed off in the other direction hiding in the crowds not wanting to be spotted and her plans ruined.

"Hey, Nathy" Lila comes around the other side of the table holding his Coffee out to him "It was made just the way you like it" she smiles.

He takes it "Thanks, but if you didn't make it yourself then I don't think it is perfect" he takes a sip.

Lila giggles "I could hardly just walk behind the counter and start making you a coffee"

"What do you mean that sounds like something you would do" he smirks.

She rolls her eyes "I've sworn off trouble"

"Sure, you have" he teases then takes another sip of his coffee.

Lila smirks "How about you stop teasing your generous girlfriend and go talk to those people who just came up"

Nathanael laughs "Sure"

Oliva clenched her fists; this would be a lot harder to pull off than she had first imagined but she had to make the Rossi brat pay!

"Because of her, my life is ruined!" she grumbles "I can act loads better than her, but she spins her little lies, and everyone is putty in her hands!" Olivia stalked through the rest of the convention not even sparing a passing glance to any other booths.

'I need to get him alone, when there's no chance of Lila interrupting' her forehead creases as she thinks 'Maybe school will work, I don't have classes with him though so I need to find out where he hangs out between classes hopefully Lie-la won't be with him'

* * *

The convention was starting to calm down as the evening approached. Nathanael sighed and rolled his shoulders.

Lila glanced at him "If you're getting uncomfortable you can always go for a walk I'll try my best to fill in for you"

Nathanael smiles "No, it's fine, there's not long to go anyway"

Lila nods and grins at him "You've done really well for this being your first booth" she glances over what is left on his table.

Nathanael blushes and rubs the nap of his neck "Yeah, I'm surprised so many people like my art"

"Don't be" Lila winks at him "It's charming and unique just like you"

He flushes and glances away "Shut up"

"Why?" Lila chuckles "I'm not teasing, it's honest"

Before he can reply, their conversation is interrupted as Alix appears, skating to a halt. "Hey, Nathanael how's the booth going?"

He frowns "You shouldn't skate in here" he crosses his arms.

Alix waves her hand "Relax, I'm a professional"

"No, you're not" Nathanael's forehead creases.

"Well I skate around the Louvre and haven't broken a thing yet" she shrugs, a teasing smirk on her face.

Nathanael frowns "And I've told you that you shouldn't do that around priceless works of art"

Alix laughs "Yeah, I've heard that rant before now back to my main question have you sold much or have you two been too busy flirting?" she places her hands on the table steadying herself.

"Nathy's been doing great!" Lila grins "I have quite the talented boyfriend" She looks to him.

He blushes "Uh, yeah, I've been doing better than I expected"

"That's only because you're too humble," Alix says "Even Lila can tell you that"

Lila nods "Not that I mind, it just makes him even sweeter" she quickly kisses his cheek. His face reddened but he glanced at Lila with an affectionate smile.

"Eugh" Alix rolled her eyes "I'm too aroace for this shit" she turns to go "Bye Nath, Bye Lila"

"Bye," they called after her as she skated away. Lila giggles "I should totally be even more over you to see her reaction"

Nathanael shakes his head and chuckles.

Then Lila's phone beeps in her pocket. She reaches for and takes it out. "Mi chiedo chi mi stia mandando un messaggio ora..." she mutters. Then her eyes light up.

"Lila what is it?" Nathanael tries to glance at her phone but is unable to. She looks up eyes crinkling as she grinned. "I've actually got it!"

"Got what?" Nathanael tilts his head then realization appeared on his face "Wait the part in the play?"

Lila nods wildly "Yeah, it's amazing!"

"Congrats, I'm really happy for you" Nathanael smiles "But there was no chance they weren't going to pick you"

Lila laughs "There was a lot of people auditioning Nathanael…is this a dream…how did I get it?" she looks down at her phone forehead creasing in worry. "What if it's a mistake, I could mess up before we even get to the real performance…maybe I should reject their offer.."

Nathanael places a hand on her arm "Lila, they picked you because they saw you had talent, you want this right?"

She nods.

"Then you have to do or else you'll regret it," he says.

Lila manages a smile "You're right, Rehearsals start next Monday so we won't get to spend as much time together though"

Nathanael places a hand on her cheek "That's fine, I won't be the one to stop you from achieving your dream"

Lila smiles, pressing her cheek into his hand "You're the best, you know that?"

He chuckles "Yeah but was starting to think no one else realised"

Lila laughs. "Dork" she mutters affectionately.

He moves closer to her standing slightly on his tiptoes to rub his nose against hers "Yours" he mutters back.

Lila closes the small distance left between them as their lips finally meet. Eyes closing as she places her hands on his waist to steady him against her. The short but sweet kiss came to an end and Lila stepped back. "I've kept you from your booth long enough, I should go call Sierra to see if she got any word back"

Nathanael nods "Okay, it will soon be time to pack up anyway"

Lila waves and heads off to find a quiet place to call Sierra.


	8. Perfect for you

When Lila got Nathanael's text message asking if she wanted to meet up in the park later, of course, she said yes. Little did he know of her other plans for the day…

Placing her hands on her hips Lila glanced over the mess she called her room while chewing on her bottom lip. She hadn't even been back long, she had no idea how it go in such a mess. "This won't do" she mutters. The thought of tidying up made her want to just ask her mum if they could move to a new house. That way she wouldn't have to tidy up. Still, she knew that was silly. "I better start now, I'll be meeting up with Nathy soon," she says aloud to herself as she begins to pick up items of clothing flung across the carpet.

She puts a dark purple fedora on a hook over her trifold vanity mirror and places a similar coloured scarf on the hook beside it. She stuffs the rest of her clean clothes in her wardrobe. She glances around to see if anything else is out place and sees some books lying across the floor. Some lying open upside down. She sighs and picks them up. Brushing dust of the covers as she slots them in the correct places on the little bookcase in the corner of her room.

"There," she stands back, hands on her hips "all done". She glances at the time. Smiling that she still has plenty of time to make it to the park. She grabs her black leather jacket still lying on her bed and slips it on before hurrying out of her bedroom.

Lila arrived at the park and looked around for that familiar red hair but when she couldn't spot him, she sighed. She smoothed down the orange material of her summer dress sat down on a bench and let her eyes wander over the park. She saw a group of people setting up some sort of photoshoot under the blossoming trees. They seemed to be stressed about something. She took her focus off them checking around the park for Nathanael but he hadn't arrived. She could see mums with their toddlers walking around as well as a few dogs and their owners playing on the grassy area. She fixed the cuffs of her black jacket around her wrists.

"Lila!"

Her eyes widened and she glanced over her shoulder smiling when she noticed Nathanael rushing up to her. She stood up.

"Sorry I'm a little late," He says as he reaches her.

Lila smiles "It's fine, Nathy"

"So what are we going to do?" Nathanael asks.

Lila starts "Well I thought-"

"Uh, can you wait a minute" Nathanael mutters taking his phone from his pocket.

Lila raises an eyebrow at him.

He glances up catching her look. "Ah sorry, it's just Luka texted me It'll only take a second" he sheepishly smiles. He looks back down at his phone then sniggers.

"What so funny?" Lila asks "What did he say?" she tries to lean over to see the message but Nathanael holds his phone to his chest quickly.

"It's nothing!"

Lila narrows her eyes "Why can't I see? Is it about me?"

"You're just paranoid," Nathanael says putting his phone back in his pocket "It's just an inside joke me and Luka have"

Lila continues to glare suspiciously at him but finally relents "Fine"

"Now about what we're going to do today" Nathanael quickly changes the subject "You have a plan"

Lila nods "I thought we could just hang around the park for a while then when we get bored we can go somewhere else"

"Sure" Nathanael grins "Its quite warm today isn't it" he adds.

Lila nods "Yeah, this is the kind of temperatures we get in Italy"

"Shall I go get us some cold drinks?" Nathanael asks.

Lila glances around then spots some vending machines in the corner of the park covered by the shade of the trees. "You can get some over there" she gestured towards the vending machines. Nathanael turns around to look "Yeah" he glances at her again "What one do you want?"

Lila grins "You can surprise me"

Nathanael laughs "Okay, you wait here then" he walks over towards the vending machines and Lila sits back down to wait.

She isn't sitting long when she notices a tall man with dark reddish-brown hair heading towards her. He points to her making her eyes widen. "You, Girl, you are not busy, no?" he stands before her now. She can hear the Italian accent in his voice. "N-No, not really" Lila replies, realization dawning on her face as she remembers seeing him in the crowd of stressed people setting up the photo shoot.

"Ah, you are Italian?" he questions, his eyes brightening.

"si signore" Lila smiles back.

He grins "You already were a perfect beauty but now you are ten times more perfect!"

Lila giggles "Thank you, uh, I didn't get your name sir"

"It is Vincent and you are?"

"I'm Lila"

He claps his hands "Now come Lila we are pressured for time!"

"Excuse me but what do you mean?" Lila asks. She stands up.

Vincent looks to her confused then smiles "Ah, I forgot to tell you in my excitement!" he chuckles "The girl lined up to show off these fabulous clothes hasn't turned up" he shakes his head then looks intensely at Lila "But you are perfect for the role so come quickly"

"You want me to model?" Lila asks.

"Si, yes model" Vincent nods "You will do it, yes"

Lila looks to the people by the small truck watching expectantly and then back at the hyper Vincent.

"How can I possibly say no" she anxiously laughs. Before she can blink Vincent has grabbed her wrist pulling her towards the photo shoot area.

"I told you's I would get us a new beauty and look I have!" he grins "And you's all doubted, Vincent!"

The worried expressions on the crew's faces vanished replaced by smiles.

"Great, you get to work on Michaels solo photos while we get her ready," A blonde haired woman with a clipboard said looking even more relieved than the rest. "Ava, get some makeup on her, keep it minimal"

A girl a bit older than Lila with her hair in tiny braids takes Lila by the arm leading her towards the silver truck. Lila follows behind her. They climb the steps and head inside the truck. Lila glances around and sees a series of clothes hanging on a silver pole and then a small makeup area.

"Sit there" Ava points to a black spinney chair that Lila sits on. "You're not wearing any makeup right now are you?" she asks.

Lila nods "Just a little"

"Here, wipe it off" Ava hands her some makeup wipes.

Lila can sense the girl's impatience and does it quickly. Once finished Ava wastes no time and quickly gets to work taking a makeup brush with some light powder on it dusting along Lila's cheekbones.

' _I wasn't sure about this but I get makeup done professionally for free what's not to love!'_ Lila happily thinks to herself.

Nathanael heads back to Lila with two lemonades in his hands then his eyes widen as he's seen she's gone missing. His eyes dart about in worry as he cannot see her anywhere. Then finally he spots her heading down steps of a silver truck.

At least he thinks its Lila she's wearing a whole new outfit. He heads towards the photoshoot confused. When he gets closer he sees that is Lila. His cheeks flushed she looked gorgeous. Her hair is out of its usual style and fluffed up a bit to fall gently along her shoulders and cascade down her back.

She spots Nathanael and her face brightens even more when she smiles.

"Lila, what's going on?" Nathanael asks.

"I'm stepping in for a model," Lila says as she approaches him. The long skirt of the two-piece outfit she is wearing fluttering at the bottom.

"Since when are you a model?" Nathanael asks.

Lila laughs "Since now"

"Lila, you're on," Ava says.

Lila smiles "Okay" she glances at Nathanael "Wish me luck"

"Good luck," he says as she walks up to the set. Standing in front of the camera with a boy with curly black hair who was wearing a suit to match her outfit.

Nathanael watches in awe as Lila follows the instructions Vincent or others bark out. She was like a natural. He felt his face heating up. When the boy, Michael walks off as it is time for Lila's solo shoots. Lila feels a little nervous. Sure she had been having fun and she had to fight off giggles every time she glanced at Nathanael and saw his awestruck face. But now she was on her own. Could she do it?

She took a deep breath and fixed a small relaxed smile on her face. Then listened to Vincent's instructions as she did before. "Yes, now Lila, angle your body more to the left," Vincent says. Lila does as he says. "Excellent now look towards me while keeping your body in that position" Vincent directs, holding the camera up. Lila once again follows the instructions.

"That is perfezionare!" Vincent exclaims quickly snapping pictures from different angles "You are Un naturale!" Vincent's compliments help give Lila confidence and soon she doing more poses for the flash of the camera. Vincent continued to shout praise and everyone else in the team was smiling widely. They hadn't expected much from Lila as she wasn't a professional model but she was defiantly of a standard to be one.

Lila was a little sad that the fashion shoot came to an end. Nathanael rushed up to her when he saw everyone start to pack up. She toyed with a lock of hair "So what did you think of my modelling?" she bites back a giggle when she sees Nathanael's blushing cheeks. He wrung his hands "It was-I mean you were…Y-You were er Gorgeous and uh, yeah, like a professional" he stutters out, turning redder.

Lila giggles "Thank you, Nathy" she takes his hand in hers "You're really sweet"

Nathanael rubs the back of his neck with his free hand "I-I was only telling the uh truth" he anxiously smiles.

"Lila, you wanna change back into your own clothes, I don't think Miranda will let you take that outfit home" Ava smirks.

Lila laughs "Your right Ava, I'll come right now" she smiles at Nathanael before letting go off his hand as she heads to get changed in the truck.

* * *

Nathanael leans his back against a tree's trunk as he waits for Lila. He watches as Vincent packs away his camera and travel tripod in a black case. A blonde haired lady with a clipboard, that Nathanael assumes is the Miranda they were talking about earlier, runs about in a hurry checking her list while asking questions.

"Okay, I'm ready to go"

Nathanael jumps looking to his side to see Lila standing there. She starts laughing.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you" she moves a hand over her mouth to hide her smile.

He blushes "Y-You didn't!" he looks to the ground, scuffing the toe of his shoe in the dirt. Before he can say another word a loud shout distracts Lila's attention.

"Lila wait!"

They look to see Miranda walking up to them "You were really good today are you sure you've never done modelling before?"

"This was the first time I've done it" Lila smiles.

Miranda nods "Then you definitely have talent" she reaches into her pocket taking out a small card "Here this is my business card if you're interested in doing modelling professionally my team would love to have you" she smiles.

Lila takes the card "Oh wow" Lila says. She looks at the card with _Spotlight Modelling_ in fancy font while the contact information is clearer to read. She looks back up "Thank you, I'll have to speak to my Father, but I'll get back to you"

"See that you do, I'd hate to miss out on someone with natural talent like you," Miranda says "Now I better get back to work, bye" she turns and heads off to the truck clutching her clipboard.

"So you going to become a model?" Nathanael asks, glancing at the business card over her Shoulder.

Lila blinks "I don't know…I'm still kinda shocked they think I'm that good"

Nathanael smiles "What do you mean it's typical of you to be good at everything you do whereas I'm always failing"

Lila opens her mouth to disagree with his statement when a voice cuts.

"You should join the agency" Lila looks up to see Michael approaching grinning cheekily. "I mean all the other girls are kinda stuck up and bossy but you're much more fun to work alongside"

Lila feels Nathanael move closer to her and glances at him to see a pout on his face. She resists the urge to roll her eyes at his behaviour. He did look kind of cute.

"Thank's but I've been told I can be bossy too just to warn you" she smirks.

"La maggior parte della donna italiana è prepotente nella mia esperienza, ma aggiunge semplicemente al loro fascino, Right Lila?" Vincent smirks.

"Sì, ma a volte dobbiamo essere se vogliamo fare in modo che gli uomini facciano qualsiasi cosa" Lila laughs while Michael and Nathanael glance between them confused.

"You tell the truth," Vincent says "Now I must go but I hope to work with you again Lila"

Lila smiles "Yes that would be nice" she waves to him as he walks off. Then turns to Nathanael her smile brightening her face "Now we better go do something I did promise to spend the day with you and here I am breaking it, sorry" she accepts the bottle he hands to her and then uses her free hand to clasp his hand in hers entwining their fingers together.

Nathanael smiles "it's okay we have kind of spent time together and anyway…" he blushes "Seeing you happy is enough for me" he looks at Lila with bright eyes.

Lila feels her face heat up. She glances away as Nathanael chuckles at her reaction "Since when have you been so smooth" they start walking through the park.

"I wouldn't call it smooth," Nathanael says.

"Then what would you call it?" Lila's eyes twinkle as she glances at him. His face colours pink.

"I'd call it…Romantic" he says quietly.

Lila starts giggling and his face turns crimson. "You're such a dork" she presses a soft kiss against his cheek. He glances at her with a smile. They walk along the path filled with acorns and dead leaves the branches above them reaching out towards each other forming archways while their leaves created a makeshift roof. "Anyway did you enjoy your time modelling," Nathanael asks.

Lila nods "I did I never expected it to be so fun!"

"So standing I front of a camera is fun" Nathanael smirks. He glances at Lila to see her eyes are bright, her face is flushed and glows with joy. She looks so happy that Nathanael feels himself smiling too. His hands itch to sketch her at this moment. Lila laughs "To me yes and also it was really nice to talk in Italian to Vincent he seems a nice man, I hope to see him again"

Nathanael nods listening to Lila. His eyes going round as an idea comes to his mind. _'I wonder who else knows Italian I could use an app but I'm a slow learner I'd need someone who can help me practice'_

"Nathanael" Lila breaks into his thoughts. He glances to see her frowning at him. "Were you even listening?" she complains.

He sheepishly smiles "No, sorry I was…daydreaming"

She rolls her eyes "Of course you were" she smiles "I was saying how about we head back to mine" her face was turning red.

Nathanael had no idea why he decided to put it down to the heat even though it had cooled down a little as it turned to the late afternoon.

"Sure, sounds great," Nathanael says.

Lila smiles and they walk out of the Park hand in hand.

* * *

 **Next time on Your Lies are Art 2: Lila works up the courage to ask Nathanael a question and through it, they grow closer as couple…**


	9. Shivers

**PLEASE BE WARNED! The chapters before were pure PG fluff, but this chapter is explicit smut. (They are 16 which is a year above the legal age in Paris and the legal age where I live) Please read at your own risk, and enjoy! ;)**

* * *

Now Lila sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Nathanael to come back up to the room. She shifted nervously, pulling at the hem of her dress, and then combed her fingers through her hair. Glancing out the window, she saw the sun was starting to go down casting beautiful shades of pastel pinks and oranges across the sky, the curtains on the window moving just a little with the breeze.

Her hands fisted into the bedcovers. So far, their relationship had been moving slowly...which was fine with her…but Lila was ready for more. Everything up until this point had been cautious, tender, and they had grown more physical as the weeks went on. But Nathanael was still tentative with her, and she had put off bringing up the subject of spending the night together too scared of making Nathanael fluster and back off—but that was going to end tonight. She pressed her thighs together, already excited by the thought of kissing him, undressing with him, finding an end to the desperate longing that had been plaguing her since they first confessed their love.

The door opened and she straightened up. A moment later Nathanael entered he looked to her with a smile starting to say: "Lila-"

She cut him off with a kiss, flinging her arms around his shoulders and slanting her mouth on his. "Nathy," she breathed against his lips, and then he was kissing her back, his hands around her waist, pulling her closer.

When they broke apart he laughed, "What's brought this on?"

Lila managed to giggle her cheeks turning a rosy pink. "I've been putting off asking but…um…Well, the house is empty which means that we have tonight…" She giggled at the way his eyes widened and kissed his cheek. "That's uh…so what do you want to…"

He cleared his throat, as his whole face flushed red and Lila leaned closer. "I just thought…" Her eyes flicked down to his lips, her tongue slowly licking her own before they return to his, sending a bolt of heat up his spine and into his neck.

"You thought…" Hesitantly he leaned forward.

"I thought that maybe if you wanted to…to stay…" Her eyes slowly moved back to his mouth, and Nathanael swallowed nervously.

"Stay?"

She nodded, the implication clear, so before she lost her nerve she leaned forward and kissed him, pleased that he tilted his chin up to meet his mouth with hers. The kiss was slow and soft, and after tugging a bit on his lower lip, Lila pulled back just to look at him. Nathanael's eyes were closed, his hands fisting at his sides, and Lila gave a half-smile. Then Nathanael finally looked at her, studying her face, his eyes sliding over her long lashes, the round shape of her chin, her plump lips that were slightly opened as she breathed deeply.

Their gazes connected, and before he could say anything else she was moving towards him, one hand sliding behind his head and pulling him forward. She crushed her mouth against his, kissing him hard, and Nathanael's hands went to her curved hips to steady them both. This time, her lips worked over his, and she tilted her head to the side to slant her mouth against him.

"Nath," she breathed. At once they moved towards the bed, both nearly frantic, working quickly to kick off shoes and Lila threw off her jacket. The other times they spent together were always sweet romantic affairs, but them being away from one another so long seemed to light a fire under their passion. Within moments they had fallen on the mattress in a flurry of kisses.

They finally break apart from the kiss. Lila smiles a shy blush blossoming across her face as she reaches and pulls her dress up and off her. Nathanael's face reddens at the fact Lila was half-naked.

Lila reaches across and plays with the buttons on his shirt "I think you should take this off now" she says in a low tone.

"R-Right!" he stutters and grabs his shirt pulling it up then he lets out a small, exasperated huff as his hands struggled to tug the shirt over his own head.

"Why can't I…" he growled, wriggling around and eventually dropping his arms to his side in defeat – shirt still resting over his face. "I'm sorry." He mumbled after struggling with the fabric.

Of course, Lila thought it was cute…he could hear her quiet giggles as she placed her hands on his chest making every one of his hairs stand on end, the trace of her fingertips-the feeling of them popping the button of his shirt open.

He was finally able to take it off "Thanks" he brought a hand up to rub the back of his head, smiling at his gorgeous girlfriend.

Lila moves her head closer to Nathanael's. He looks at her with rounded eyes full of anticipation and nerves. She leans in, so her forehead rests against his. They close their eyes. Both their breaths are shaking.

Then Lila gently leans in and once again kisses Nathanael's warm lips. They pull apart and take shaky, shallow breaths. Unable to contain themselves anymore, Nathanael uses his hand to cup Lila's face and then he pulls her into a fiery passionate kiss.

Once they finally break apart due to the need for oxygen. Nathanael tries to crawl over her, but Lila pushes him back so she could pull herself up onto his lap. He sucked in a breath in surprise, his hands moving to her hips as her thighs opened around his legs. Her arms were crossed over her breasts, now bare, and when she was settled on top of him, he tentatively moved his hands over her back, holding her gently as they looked at one another. Their faces were so close, he could feel her breath on his lips, and her eyes moved from his mouth to slowly meet his own.

"Nathy…are you…do you want to…?" Lila nibbled on her bottom lip again, and every time she did that he could not help but take a slow, steadying breath as heat trailed up the side of his neck. "I mean, are you sure you want to do this…?"

"Oh! Oh, yes, Lila, if-if you want to…" He felt like a fool, a complete idiot. He wanted to appear cool but here he was stuttering because a half-naked girl was in his lap. He shook his head slightly to get a hold of himself.

Lila smiled and leaned forward again, sliding her mouth over his bottom lip. Seeing his surprise made her more confident, knowing that he was just as nervous as she. She felt his hands press more firmly on her back, and as his tongue traced the seam of her mouth, she lifted her arms to slip them around him, pressing her chest against him. Nathanael's hands travelled up her bare back, and when he reached her shoulder blades, Lila gasped and broke the kiss.

"Sorry!" he said sharply, but Lila only shook her head. "It's fine," she giggled. "That just tickles."

Nathanael nodded, looking very serious. His hands settled back on her waist, and Lila shifted her hips to sit back on his legs, giving Nathanael a full view of her body. She chewed again on her lip, a blush lighting up her skin, as his eyes roamed down and over her curves in shock. Lila watched him nervously, wondering if he liked what he saw if she was moving too fast or too slow, wishing she could read his mood better. An uncomfortable silence stretched between them, until finally, Lila said, "Is-is this okay?"

"Yes!" he said, his eyes flying back up to hers. To her relief, she saw the desire in his eyes, which were practically glowing in excitement. Lila nodded with a grin as he leaned forward to kiss her again, his mouth more aggressive this time, and she tried her best to match him kiss for kiss. But then she tensed a bit as his hands moved to her chest, both of his palms brushing down her front, and she shivered as he gave her a light squeeze. "Is this okay?" he asked against her lips.

Lila nodded, giggling again, and as he slowly fondled her she began to slide her own hands over his stomach. "Is this okay?" she said with a laugh.

"You don't have to keep asking."

"Neither do you."

Nathanael nodded, his face still very focused, and he leaned forward slowly and began to kiss along her chest. Lila sat still, blinking a few times as his mouth brushed across her collarbones, and then dipped down between her breasts. She turned her head and looked up at the ceiling, feeling the blush returning to her cheeks, as he continued over the swell of her flesh. This is Nathanael, and his mouth was on her, and she tried to focus on the one little crack on the ceiling to keep herself from shaking. She was so completely nervous that she felt like she would break under the strain, and when his mouth wrapped around one of her nipples, she sucked in her breath sharply.

She held it for long as she could, finally letting go with a great push of air when she couldn't anymore. Nathanael glanced up from her body with a confused look. "Are you okay?" he said, studying her face, his eyebrows drawn together.

Lila nodded, her chest heaving as her lungs ached for oxygen, scolding herself for doing something so… not sexy. "Can I…?" Her hand slipped between them, moving to slide along the front of his crotch, and Nathanael's eyes went wide. "Do you want to lay down first?" he asked a slight tremble to his voice. "You uh—you might be more comfortable?"

She nodded vigorously this time, climbing over his lap to sit back on the bed, and Nathanael moved with her as she scooted backwards. Lila drew her knees up and together, watching as Nathanael crawled up towards her. She bit her lip again with a smile, tilting her hip to the side as he moved over her, reaching her arms out to pull him into an embrace.

Eager now, Nathanael reached out as well, grabbing her hips to pull her up against him. But Lila was not prepared for his bold move and hit the back of her head against the headboard of the bed as he pulled her off balance. "Ouch!" she yelped, rubbing the back of her head, and Nathanael gasped, "Oh, Lila! I am so, so sorry— oh, here, let me—"

She laughed as he tried to make a fuss, saying, "I'm okay, really," finally having to grab his face and pull him down for a quick kiss. Nathanael nodded when they finally parted, moving more carefully this time, feeling even more like an idiot for grabbing at her like… well, an idiot. He relaxed against her as she kissed him again, and as her tongue traced playfully around his mouth, his hands began to move on their own to rub up and down her sides, finally settling against her again to cup her breasts.

Lila moaned into his mouth and he eagerly squeezed her, shifting one of his legs to press between hers. He could feel her hot and wet—already, he thought with a silent groan—and her moaning and squirming at his touch was all the encouragement he needed. His hands began to rub circles over her breasts, his fingers spread wide, and at the same time, he felt her outside leg wrap around his waist while one of her hands slipped in between his legs.

Nathanael whimpered as she stroked him, his body roaring to life in her hand, and Lila moaned again, her mouth slow and wet against his. Then his hips began to move on their own, thrusting into her palm. He started to get lost in the feel of her, the taste of her mouth, his hands becoming callous against her breasts as he pulled and pinched and stroked her roughly. Lila panted into his mouth, making him even more eager, and he moved his hips harder, grinding against her hand mindlessly. It felt incredibly good, her body under his touch even better, and all he could focus on was the pulsing at his temples as his blood pumped fiercely through his body.

Lila pulled her mouth away and Nathanael pressed his face against her shoulder, jerking his hips a bit faster against her hand. "Nathanael," she whispered in his ear, the tone of her voice spiking upwards as he gave her nipple a pinch.

"Hmm," he murmured against her skin.

She jumped with another one of his pinches and said, "Take the rest off."

He suddenly stilled, and then pulled back quickly, his face completely shocked. "Lila? Are you sure?"

She nodded and giggled. "Of course. Isn't that what we're doing here?"

Nathanael swallowed thickly, suddenly aware of his hands on her, gripping her breasts so tightly, and her hand gently squeezing him back. He was suddenly embarrassed by the way he had been moving against her, humping her like some kind of sex-crazed moron. This was Lila, and he wanted to romance her, to take it slow and sweet and passionate, not thrust against her until he was finishing in his undershorts.

"Yes," he said forcefully, kneeling up. First, he gripped her panties by the sides and dragged them downwards, his face going red when she lifted her hips to help. Once he tossed them to the side, his hands went to his own underclothes. Lila watched with a somewhat amused expression as he quickly pulled them down and kicked them off with a sudden furiousness. Shyly she glanced down to look at his body, her core clenching when she saw just how hard he was, but there was only a moment before he was forcing her legs to open. Lila gave a little cry of surprise as he pressed her thighs up and back.

Then his mouth was on hers, hard and demanding, and Lila's hands work their way around his body as she kisses back, feeling each crevasse, each line along with his cute physique. He pushes her to lie on her back as he matches her body's form.

Lila could only let high pitched moans escape her as she felt him grinding against her again. But this time, his pelvis and his hips were pressing against the throbbing between her legs, and it was a struggle just to keep breathing with the overwhelming waves of pleasure he was giving her. Over and over he stroked her body, never entering her; he simply moved himself up and down, spreading the wetness seeping from her body everywhere, until she thought she would go mad if he didn't stop this and keep going.

"Nathanael!" she squealed as the head of him pressed right up against her opening, and Nathanael pulled back, making her moan. He was pulling away when she wanted more; what was he doing?

"Lila? Are you okay?" he said frantically. He planted a hand on each side of her head and started to pull back, but her hands grabbed his waist and pulled him back down against her.

"Please," she moaned, rocking her hips slightly and making his body twitch against her. Their eyes locked, and he was hit with how beautiful they were, large and bright and filled with pure want. Her fingers dug into his skin, hurting a bit, and then she shifted herself again, his eyes flicking down to watch her breasts sway slightly. Her hips pressed up, and there was no mistaking what she is asking for when she whimpered again.

He could not ignore the sound, and it caused the slow burn inside his core to flare. Nathanael pressed forward until the tip of him nudged her, before finally pushing inside. He paused when just the head of him had entered her, and he looked at her face, gauging her reaction.

Lila's head was tilted back, her mouth open, and her fingers clenched against him. He eased further inside her, slipping inside of her easily through the wet heat and moaning at how slick and perfect she felt around him. He watched her as he moved inch by inch until he was buried completely. He could see Lila wince a little as she shifted her hips, trying to get used to the feeling, and just that little movement was enough to make his entire body shudder.

Nathanael moaned as he moved, sliding back out of her, then pushing forward again as slowly as he could. Lila's body swallowed him, clenching around him like a fist, and the tight wet heat of her became addicting as he moved. Using a slow rhythm, he stroked her body with his, and it was absolute bliss.

Lila's hands moved to his back, her fingers digging into the muscle there as he moved, and she opened her mouth in a silent gasp as he slid in and out of her. It didn't hurt, not exactly, but she felt so uncomfortably full that her thighs trembled with the effort of staying as still as possible. She had wanted him so badly to move against her, to fill her just like this, but now that it was happening, she was so overwhelmed by him that she could barely even think…

Then he kissed her, a hard, passionate kiss that completely took her breath away, and when she moaned into his mouth, he took it as encouragement and began to move his hips faster. Her body responded, growing wetter around him, allowing her to release the tight grip of her hands and legs as he slipped more easily inside her body. As she relaxed, the tight grip on his body did as well, and Nathanael angled his hips down to push deeper. Now with this new angle, Lila began to see bursts of light behind her closed eyes, as he rubbed against her in exactly the right way and had her running headfirst towards her explosion. She cried out again and again as her passion built, and she could feel her insides coiling together, ready to burst.

"Lila," Nathanael groaned, and then he was jerking inside her, his hips stilling from that perfect rhythm and back to the torturous slow grind as he climaxed. He emptied himself inside her with a series of slow thrusts, and Lila watched with amusement and disappointment at the bliss on his face.

His entire body pulsed from the experience, and he lost all other senses except the feel of how tight she was around him. The intensity of his release was almost painful, but thrilling and delicious at the same time, and when the waves of pleasure finally began to subside, he opened his eyes and smiled down adoringly at her.

Instead of a flushed and satisfied Italian under him, he found an annoyed one with pursed lips, and before he could even register his confusion, she had pushed his weakened body off her, pressing his shoulders until he was back on the bed. "Nathanael!" she scolded as she climbed on top. "I didn't tell you to stop!"

Her voice was practically a whine, and he registered what had happened with a sudden horror. "Lila—oh sh—" She cut him off with a furious kiss, her body covering his, and she ground her hips against him, her scorching wet folds rubbing against his very sensitive member and causing him to shout. Lila sat up, looking down at him with a twisted smile, her hands going to her curving hips as she settled on his lap. He looked up at her in a daze as she said, "We aren't stopping until I say so," she declared, narrowing her eyes at him.

Nathanael only nodded, unsure of what to say or do, until she moved over him again, and she showed him exactly how to make it up to her.

* * *

 **Next time on your Lies are Art 2: Blissful from furthering their love Nathanael and Lila are unaware of just how far Olivia is prepared to go to get her revenge.**


	10. Collide

Lila rolls over in the bed, her eyes slowly flickering open as sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains lighting up areas of the room. She can feel tentative fingers running through her hair. She blinks away the sleep still in her eyes to see Nathanael leaning on his elbow as he looks down on her in affection. When he sees she has awoken his face flushes as he slowly removes his hand from her hair.

Lila rubs away the last bit of lingering haze in her eyes finally able to make Nathanael out clearly, she smiles. "You're awake early" she mumbles. Propping herself up a bit to meet his gaze.

"Uh yeah…" he chuckles. He runs a hand through his already messed up hair. Lila bites back a smile. She can sense he is nervous for some reason.

She smirks, moving closer "Why are you so nervous?"

His face reddens "Wh-what, No…" he gulps as Lila looks to him with a raised eyebrow "Fine, Uhm are you sure your parents or Mia aren't around"

"They weren't around last night don't worry," Lila says moving closer to Nathanael.

"R-Right but you're sure they didn't come back?" Nathanael asks.

Lila laughs "My Father went back to Italy for a week for some meeting, my mother went with him for some reason they're probably up to something and Mia is visiting her Aunt who has just got out of hospital and so she has applied for time off work for a while, so stop worrying" She snuggles against him with a smile.

She hears Nathanael breathe a sigh of relief and giggles. "Is that why you were awake so early?"

"Yeah" he smiles "You know you look really pretty and peaceful when you sleep" he adds. He places an arm around her.

"If I didn't love you that would be creepy" Lila laughs. She looks up at him with twinkling eyes he frowns at her.

"It's not creepy…I mean…I wasn't watching that long!" he blushes.

Lila once again laughs "Relax, Nathy, I was only teasing" He rolls his eyes at her.

"We should probably get up y'know" he mumbles. Finally relaxing on the mattress as Lila curls up against him and bullies him into holding her again.

"But I want to cuddle with you more" Lila murmurs against his chest.

"I know that" he laughs "But for one my mum is probably going crazy to know where I am"

"Don't worry I dealt with her" Lila says looking at Nathanael with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

Nathanael narrowed his eyes "What did you do?"

Lila laughs "I just sent her a text from your phone while you were asleep" she sees the horror on Nathanael's face and laughs again "Relax, I didn't tell her the truth and anyway isn't it good she won't be on your case"

"I suppose but" his eyebrows furrowed "How'd you even know my password?"

"You're too predictable that's how" Lila smirked.

"I'm not predictable" he pouts.

"Yes, you are, now shush" Lila mutters as she closes her eyes again.

Nathanael smiles "But we really should get up"

He hears Lila's loud sigh and bites back a laugh. "Honestly are you always this annoying first thing in the morning?"

"Only for you" he teases.

Lila looks up at him with furrowed brows, despite the angry expression he can't help but feel affection for her even then. He smiles as Lila moves to sit up. "Fine looks we're getting up"

They were now up and dressed as they headed down the stairs. "So what do you want for breakfast?" Lila asks, glancing over her shoulder at Nathanael.

His eyes go round "Oh, I don't really care, whatever you want is fine" he smiles.

Lila nods "Then shall we go into the town? We can grab some breakfast at the Dupain-Cheng Bakery"

"Sure"

Lila smiles "Then let's go" they walk towards the door which Lila opens letting Nathanael walk past her then she grabs the keys from the little hook beside the door. She locks the door behind her. Then puts the keys in her bag for safekeeping.

They set off down the path and as they came out onto the footpath Lila felt Nathanael tap his hand against hers. She glanced at him to see him blushing. She giggles and takes his hand in hers.

"Seriously Nathy?"

"What?" he lowers his head abashed.

Lila smiles "I suppose I'm happy you'll always be a sweet dork no matter what"

His face flushes red "Must you always go on about how I'm a dork?" he looks to her with a pout. This only makes Lila find him more adorable as she giggles behind her hand. He frowns at this.

"Of course I must, that's why I love you after all" she smiles, looking ahead.

Nathanael rolls his eyes but smiles "Fine but you're a…." he trails off looking for something to call her.

Lila smirks "I'm a what Nathanael? C'mon what were you going to say?" she teases.

"Oh, shut up!" Nathanael complains, looking away from her and up to the tree's branches. He was not able to think of anything to call her.

Lila laughs "Yep, you're a total dork"

They head towards the Dupain-Cheng bakery hand in hand, as they arrive at it they notice an expensive car parked outside with a man of impressive build standing by the door observing passers-by with a steely glare.

"Isn't that Adrien's car?" Nathanael looks around in sight of the boy.

"Yeah, he must be in the bakery" Lila comments pulling Nathanael with her towards it.

"Maybe Marinette finally asked him on a date?" Nathanael grins.

Lila laughs "Sure, there's more chance of Chloe becoming a lesbian than Marinette ever asking Adrien out"

They approach the door when the gorilla steps in front of them blocking their entry. He glares down at them. Where Nathanael tries to shrink back Lila steps forward looking up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Excuse me, you're blocking the entry"

He continues to glare at them silently.

"Lila…" Nathanael whispers and tries to pull her away. She doesn't budge.

Lila sighs and rolls her eyes. "Look we're not interested in Adrien, we go to school with him so he's not that exotic to us, and if you need further proof we're not mad in love fans, I've got a boyfriend" she nods to Nathanael "And he's very much straight so you don't have to worry there either"

"Lila!" Nathanael hisses. His Cheeks flushing.

The Gorilla raises one eyebrow at them.

"I'm starving Nathanael!" she hisses back.

The Gorilla moves aside allowing them entry to the Bakery. "Finally," Lila mutters and pulls Nathanael inside. The bell jingles as the enter. Sabine looks up from where she was talking to Adrien from behind the counter.

"Hi, Mrs Dupain-Cheng" Nathanael greets.

"Nathanael, Hello and um you must be Lila right?"

Lila nods "Yes, it's nice to finally meet you Mrs Dupain-Cheng"

Adrien shifts of his feet "Did the gorilla give you any trouble?" he sheepishly smiles.

Lila shakes her head "Nothing I couldn't handle"

"Ah, That's good" Adrien sighs in relief and turns his attention back to Sabine with an apologetic look "I'm sorry of he's making you lose out on business"

Sabine waves her hand "Don't worry, my dear, money is nothing compared to my daughter's happiness"

Adrien blushes slightly and rubs the back of his head "R-Right, that's good then"

Lila and Nathanael glance at each other with equally confused looks. Nathanael shrugs and so Lila turns to Adrien.

"Adrien, did you come here to buy something?" she broaches the subject. Nathanael rolls his eyes at how obvious she was being about it.

Adrien looks to them with a smile "Oh no, I just came to collect Marinette, you two can go ahead and order"

Nathanael's eye's widened and Lila's forehead creased. "Collect?" they questioned at the same time.

"Yes, Me and Adrien are going on a date"

Everyone turned their attention to the blushing Marinette that had walked in through the back door in the bakery. Lila's and Nathanael's jaws simultaneously fall open.

"Marinette" Adrien smiles "You, uh, look really pretty" he blushes.

Marinette's eyes widen as she glances down her outfit, a pink summer dress with her signature flowers embroidered into it in a repeating pattern at the bottom. "Th-Thank you, Adrien" she flushes "I made it myself"

Adrien's eyes widened "Wow, you really are extremely talented Marinette!" he ducks his head a small smile on his face.

Before Marinette can reply Sabine starts to gush "You guys are literally the cutest!" she clasps her hands together "Oh I know, we need to take a photo to remember this day!"

"Muum!" Marinette whines, her face turning red. Sabine ignores her as she rushes off to find the camera.

"Quick, we've got to go!" she pushes Adrien towards the door. Adrien laughs and heads out.

"Just wait for me out there I'll be just two seconds." She says. He nods and smiles.

"Nathanael, I want to thank you"

"Thank me?" he tilts his head slightly. Lila glances between Marinette and Him in confusion.

"Yes, for what you said in the Art room that day, without your encouragement I don't think I'd ever have worked up the courage to ask Adrien out" she giggles and ducks her head "So thank you"

Nathanael smiles "No problem, I hope you two have a good time"

"So do I," she says then heads off "Bye, Nathanael and Lila"

"Bye" They both call after her.

Once the shop door closes and they stand in the bakery alone Nathanael leans closer and whispers "Does this mean Chloe's a lesbian now?" Lila bursts out laughing. Nathanael quickly joining her in her laughter.

"Okay, I'm back!" Sabine rushes in with a camera then stops short and looks around with a pout. "Did they run off on me?"

"Afraid so" Lila nods.

Sabine shakes her head "Nevermind, I'll get them when they come back" she steps back behind the counter "Now then you've waited long enough what did you two want to order?"

Lila approaches the display case with Nathanael a step behind.

With their breakfast pastry bakes, they head to the park just across from the bakery to find a place to sit. Settling on a bench. They look around in companionable silence.

On the large lawn area, an excitable border-collie chases after a tennis ball her owner threw a smaller brown dog chasing after her yapping loudly.

Further away a couple, the woman having outrageous blonde curly hair and the man seemed to think Bowties were cool, sit on a picnic blanket enjoying the warmth of the sun as they chat together between bites of their sandwiches.

Lila leans back and stares at the blue sky filled with fluffy clouds and sighs. Nathanael glances at her. "Everything okay"

"Yes, and No" she sits back up and looks at him intensely "From tomorrow on we won't get to spend time together like this" she pouts "I'll be too busy with rehearsals…"

Nathanael gives her a rueful smile "Lila, I told that it would be okay, we still get to see each other during school hours"

Lila nods "Yeah but me and anyone else who is in the show have to leave before last period, so we won't see each other then"

"Okay" Nathanael chuckles "It will be over before you know it and we've got Italy to look forward to…uh, that is if we're still going to Italy…" he blushes.

Lila smiles "Of course we are" she places her hand over Nathanael's "But don't get too excited it'll just be my huge family teasing us for the month of summer"

Nathanael laughs "That's alright with me"

Lila put her head on his shoulder and sighed. "Hey, Nathanael?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we stay like this for a bit?"

Nathanael put an arm around her and held her close. "If it was up to me, we'd stay like this forever."

Lila smiled and hummed in agreement. And yet they both knew that that was impossible.

There was a whole future ahead of them.

* * *

Another day of school over, Nathanael wandered to the art room. The others were nowhere to be seen so he sat down at a nearby table. Flicking open his sketchbook he started to outline one of his drawings.

"That's a really cool drawing," a voice said, and Nathanael opened his eyes to see brown ones looking back. It was a girl with long black hair, she seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite remember why.

"Sorry, for sneaking up on you" she smiles, not seeming sorry at all. She wanders into the class and takes a seat beside Nathanael "I'm Olivia, we met at that art convention remember?" she rests her face in her hand, elbow leaning on the table.

Recognition dawned on Nathanael's face "Oh, yeah…"

She giggles "You don't seem to happy to see me, is there a reason why?"

Nathanael glances away "Uh, No"

Olivia leans closer, batting her eyelashes "Oh good, I would so hate it if you didn't like me"

Nathanael scooted his chair away, making more space between them. Olivia undeterred moves her chair closer and places a hand over his, he tenses up.

"Nathanael" she starts softly "Can I tell you the truth?"

He yanks his hand away from hers, forehead furrowing "The truth?"

"Yes" she bows her head shyly twisting a lock of hair around her finger "It's just that…" she looks up with wide eyes "I've admired your work for a long time and I never had the courage to talk to you-until now that is"

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes!" she nods "So I was wondering if you could teach me?"

Nathanael's eyes rounded "Teach you…uh…"

Olivia's smile slipped "I'm annoying you, I shouldn't have even come" she stood up and turned away "I'm sorry, I'll leave" she slowly heads towards the door.

Nathanael frowned as he realised, he may have been a bit hard on the girl, there was no reason for him to be suspicious "wait!" he calls.

Olivia smirks and pauses at the doorway.

"I'm not that much of a teacher, honestly I'm not that good at explaining things and all that…but I suppose I could try and help you out"

She turns around a kind smile fixed on her face "Really? That's so kind of you!" she gushes, rushing back to the seat beside him.

Nathanael fidgeted with his pencil and glanced down at his sketchbook "So uh…where should we start, maybe-"

"Wait" Olivia says, making him glance at her "It would be sensible if we swapped contact info don't you think?"

"Uh…"

"Great!" she exclaims before he can say another word. She takes her phone out and looks to him expectantly. Not wanting to upset her again. He took out his phone and Olivia watched him intently as he inputs the password combination. He gives her his number and she nods to herself as she adds it to her phone. Then puts it back in her pocket.

"So, aren't you going to give me yours?" Nathanael questions.

"No need" she says "Once I message you then you'll have my info anyway we should get started with the art"

Nathanael nods "Right" he flips to the back of his sketchbook and very cautiously tears out the last page, sliding it to her "Here you can use this to draw"

Olivia looks down at the paper with a sigh "The only problem now is I haven't a clue what to draw"

"You could draw yourself as superhero" Nathanael suggested with bright eyes.

Olivia just about stopped herself from rolling her eyes at how loser like that sounded and smiled brightly instead "Great idea!"

"Do you want to see some of my hero designs for inspiration?" he tilts his head.

"Maybe in a minute" she stands up as he watches in confusion "I just need to go to the toilet"

"Oh, okay"

She heads to the door "I'll be right back" she calls over her shoulder. She walks out into the corridor and rushes on down it. When she feels she is far enough from the art room. She takes her phone out. Time to put her plan into action. God knows she didn't want to spend another second having to pretend to like Nathanael or his stupid art. She presses the call button and rings Nathanael's phone. _'Of course, the only person who would ever date Lie-la Rossi is a loser, like herself' s_ he sighs. This was really putting her acting skills to the test. Luckily she was an amazing actress. She rushes back down the hall phone still calling Nathanael and then ends it quickly as she approaches the art room. She made a worried frown appear on her face and rushed into the art room "Nathanael!" she cried.

He looked up in shock, forgetting about the mysterious call "Olivia, is everything okay?"

"No" she shakes her head wildly "that friend of yours, the one with pinkish hair"

"Alix"

"Yes, her!" Olivia says, "I just saw her heading towards the nurse's office, it looks like she has had a nasty fall!"

"Oh no!" He places his phone down on the table as he rushes out of the room. Olivia smirks to herself, this was easier than she expected. Not wasting any time, she rushes to the phone and inputs the combination she had watched him do earlier, grinning at her success to get in.

She clicked on messages and saw Lila's name as the first contact she tapes on it and writes her message.

 _Lila, can you come to the art room quickly? There's an emergency, I really need your help!_

Chuckling to herself she presses send just as she hears hurried footsteps rushing back. Exiting messages, she puts the phone on standby and drops it back on the table sidestepping away from it.

Nathanael rushes back in with a frown "I thought you said Alix was in the nurse's office?"

"She was" Olivia lies "Why was no longer there?"

"Yeah" Nathanael glares at her.

She shrugs "That's good isn't it, it means she wasn't badly hurt and was sent home" she smiles.

Nathanael sits back in his seat and relaxes slightly "Yeah, you're right" he reaches for his phone, Olivia's eyes widen "I'll just text-"

"No!" Olivia rushes to him placing a hand on his arm, he glances at her with a raised brow. She quickly fixes her face into a neutral expression "I mean, she won't want you fussing, and we don't have long left and you still have so much to teach me" she sits down beside him.

Nathanael sighs "Fine"

Olivia glances at the clock, Lila wouldn't take that long to get here, she hoped, soon she will have her revenge.

* * *

 **Next Time on Your Lies are Art 2: Olivia decides to put her plan into action, will she succeed in her revenge or will her plan crumble to nothing?**


	11. You don't know my heart

The Paris theatre was filled with the chatter of teens and kids as they all waited behind the stage, brimming with nerves and excitement for their first rehearsal.

The noise slowly died down as a ginger-haired woman and a strawberry blonde-haired man walked through the crowd to stand in the middle of the room. Lila nudged Sierra who paused in her talking to Liam to see what had everyone's attention.

"Okay, everyone" Mrs Pond said "Me and my husband would like to welcome everyone to the very first rehearsal for what we hope will be the very best musical of Bugsy Malone"

Everyone cheered and laughed.

Mr Pond smiles "If we could all calm down, I would like to explain how we are going to work these rehearsals to the best of our advantage as we don't have as much time as we would have hoped"

"Yes" Mrs Pond cuts in "Today we thought it best to go through the ropes with the background characters and the main can come back tomorrow"

"This way we can focus more on each set without any distractions," Mr Pond says.

Lila glances at Sierra "Is that us then?"

Sierra doesn't even need to answer Lila's question as Mr Pond looks down at his checkboard "So, Sierra Romanoff, Liam Hart, Lila Rossi…" he continues on the list "You can all take a script from Hanna at the door and head on home for today, but tomorrow we promise you'll get a chance to rehearse"

They all nod and trail towards the door, the girl who had been at the rehearsals stands at the door, her hair in a high ponytail, she gives each passing teen a script and wishes them well.

"So what will we do now?" Sierra asks as the trio heads out of the theatre.

"I know a nice café nearby we can get something to eat," Liam says, falling into step beside Lila "Why don't we all go there and go there and go through our scripts together"

Lila nods "That sounds great, what you say Sierra?"

"Yeah" Sierra beams "That'll be a great help"

"Right then follow me, Ladies" Liam grins and steps ahead of them out of the theatre. Sierra rolls her eyes and Lila giggles.

Falling into the plush yellow seat at one of the tables of the bright café. Lila glances around the multicolour café. The brown bricked walls were decked out with pop art and unique looking clocks. There was a clock shaped and painted to look like an apple another was crafted to look like a cat, its tail swung with each passing second. The seating was all different colours and surrounded rustic-looking wooden tables.

"How did you find the busy bean?" Lila smiles.

Liam places his script on the table and looks across at Lila "Would you believe that my family owns this place"

"No way!" Lila's eyes widen "Does this mean we get free food?" her eyes twinkle.

Liam laughs "Unfortunately No"

"Aww" Lila pouts.

Sierra comes towards the table carrying everyone's drinks. She sets them down in front of them. "The food will be coming shortly," she says as she plops down in the seat beside Lila.

"Did you know that Liam's family own this place?" Lila asks her.

Sierra nods "Yeah, of course" she sighs "He ropes me into helping out during the summer so he can sneak off"

"I do not sneak off!" Liam argues "I was taking my break!"

Sierra laughs "You get a very long break then"

He sticks his tongue out as she rolls her eyes.

Lila sighs, they fought like siblings. "Anyway, let's just start practising before you two start a boxing match"

Liam nods "It's a shame that Sierra is playing Blousy though, it makes me feel awkward playing Bugsy"

Sierra frowns "I told you not to go for Bugsy!" she exclaims.

"And I told you, they asked me to read his lines"

"Guys!" Lila cuts in "Please can we just have a few hours without you two arguing" They both gave her apologetic looks "Sorry" they bowed their heads.

"Let's start with Blousy's audition scene," Lila says. As a waitress places their ordered food on the table.

"Thank you" Sierra smiles. She picks up her script and flicks through it "Okay I'm ready"

Halfway through their script reading, Lila's phone pings. She pauses in her line and glances around at Sierra and Liam.

"Go ahead," Sierra says.

Lila smiles and takes out her phone and see's she has a message from Nathanael. Her forehead creased in a worried frown. "Oh dear, Nathanael needs me, there's been an emergency"

"Oh, go ahead," Liam says.

Sierra nods as Lila puts her script away in her bag "Yeah, don't worry"

Lila smiles at them both "Thank you" she stands up and rushes out of the café. As she rushes down the street, she quickly types out a text. ' _What's happened?'_ She turns a corner as she runs towards the school. She presses send and pushes her phone into her pocket.

* * *

The clock on the wall ticked on as Nathanael looked over Olivia's drawing- if it could even be called that – trying his hardest not say anything rude and hurt the sensitive girl. "Uhm, well I like…the colours" he settles on, face pale.

Olivia grins "Thank you, everyone always tells me that I'm very creative"

"Really, I find that hard to believe" Nathanael mutters, sliding the page, with the horrible drawing that looked like a rip-off of wonder woman with a different colour scheme back to her.

"What was that?"

"I said, Really?" Nathanael smiles "but I'm sure-" he cuts off as his phone beside him pings with a message. He looks to it and Olivia acts fast not wanting him to ruin her plan.

"You're sure what?" she asks.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll improve if you keep practising" He comments still reaching for his phone.

Olivia frowns at both the comment and the fact she hadn't distracted him enough. Lila would be here soon; she had probably been the one who texted. It might be too early to put the full plan into action, but she had no choice.

"Nathanael, forget about that" Olivia says, placing her hand over his own, stopping him from picking up his phone. He looks at her with wide eyes. She bats her lashes "You should focus on me"

"Uhh…" he once again pulls his hand away and makes distance between them. "Olivia, I'm not sure what you're suggesting but you know I have a girlfriend"

Olivia shrugs "So?" she pouts and leans closer "I liked you long before she even came to this school!"

Nathanael gulps and stands up, backing away "Uh, Sorry but I don't like you like that…"

Olivia stands up, chair screeching across the tiled floor "Don't say that" she whines "You've just been brainwashed by that Lila, haven't you? I'm not Liar like her y'know" she prowls towards him.

Nathanael's back comes into contact against the wall "What? Brainwashed?" he exclaims "I'm not brainwashed, I love Lila!"

Olivia stops in front of him "Nathanael, You're only saying that because you don't realise that I'm the one you should truly love"

Nathanael moves forwards "You're crazy!" he tries to go towards the door. She sidesteps in front of him "Come on, Nathanael" Olivia batted her eyelashes "I'm so much better than Lila" she moves to block Nathanael's escape. She puts a hand on his chest. He frowns.

"Olivia, I told you I don't like you like that" He tries to push past her, but she glares and pushes him back against the wall. "No, it's either me or Lila make a choice now, Nathanael," she says loudly. "Maybe this will help you make up your mind" she grabs Nathanael's face and forces a kiss on him.

"What the hell?"

Olivia lets go of him as he looks to the doorway to see Lila frozen in the doorway staring at them with wide eyes.

"Lila!" Nathanael's eyes widen. He pushes Olivia away.

Lila glances between the two of them, forehead creasing "You and…her" Her body began to tremble as she clenched her fists, breathing rapidly she looked to Nathanael with eyes filled with sadness "How could you?"

"Lila, it's not what it looks like, I swear" he walks towards her and she backs away. Fighting back tears. "Stay away from me, I never want to see you again!" she lashes out, turning on her heel as the tears finally stream down her face, she runs out the door

"Oopsie, Guess the girlfriend found out" Olivia presses a hand over her mouth as she giggles.

Fury flickered Nathanael's eyes "You're a horrible bitch, what have I ever done to you?"

"Oh, it's not you who my problem lies with" Her eyes narrow "that girlfriend of yours deserves what's comin' for her"

Nathanael growled "Just stay away from us okay!" he turns and runs out the door. He notices Lila turning around a corner as she rushes away.

"Lila, Wait!"

* * *

 **Next Time on Your Lies are Art 2: A heartbroken Nathanael tries to get Lila to see the truth but when all fails, he makes a deal he may just regret…**


	12. You don't have to be Superman

"Lila, wait!" Nathanael ran down the corridor trying to catch up with Lila. He could spot her just ahead, walking fast but he had to catch her. He put on a burst of speed and reached out snagging her wrist.

She tried to pull away, but he gripped on tightly. "Let me go!" she glanced over her shoulder with squinted eyes, tears stained her cheeks.

"Not until you listen to me" he pleads.

She turns away again "I heard enough…Saw enough!" she gritted out "I can't believe-"

"Exactly" he blurts out "It's unbelievable because I would never do that to you, I love you!" he lets go off her wrist but still she stays back turned to him. "You trust me, right?"

Lila takes a breath "Yes, I trust-trusted you" then she turns, lips trembling "But you've betrayed it" she shakes her head "I know what I saw, so just leave me alone!" she turned and ran away.

Nathanael stood frozen as he watched her run off, a stray tear ran down his face. He closed his eyes as more tears leaked through. His body shook as sobs overcome him. He reached into his bag and pulled out the comic he had lovingly put together for Lila. A pencil fell out with it clinking against the ground. He had meant to give it to her tomorrow for her birthday. He guessed he never would. As he looked at it, eyes blurred with tears, His chest tightened, and pain struck it.

' _I guess this is what heartbreak feels like'_

He reaches down for the pencil and takes it in his hand when something fluttered past his eyes and into the pencil.

A dark butterfly silhouettes his face. _'Evillustrator, hello again, I come with a solution for that heartbreak of yours, no girl could refuse a superhero, could they?"_ Hawkmoth grins _"Bring me, Ladybug's and Chat Noir's Miraculous and you can keep your powers and the girl"_

Nathanael's eyes narrowed "Yes, Hawkmoth"

* * *

Lila curled up on her bed, scrolling through her phone, the tears that had blurred her eyesight on the way home had now dried upon her face. She wondered if she should tell Rose about what had happened but hesitated as she came upon her contact. Rose had been Nathanael's friend first maybe she would take his side…she pursed her lips and then saw Kagami's contact. She could speak with Kagami about it.

"Lila"

Lila jumps and looks around to see someone erasing her window before stepping through. She stands up and quickly backs off. Then blinks when she takes in who it is. He looked very different but there was no mistaking those seafoam blue eyes.

"Nathanael" she tilts her head "You've been akumatised!"

"I am no longer Nathanael" he places a hand to his chest "I am now Evillustrator"

She glances at him and then to the doorway. "You're not here to hurt me, are you?"

His eyes go wide "What? No, of course not!" he waves his arms "I could never hurt you, Lila, you're wonderful and smart not to mention beautiful!"

Lila flushes but folds her arms "Then why are you here?" she turns her head "I said all I have to say to you"

Evillustrator sighs then twirls his stylus pen in his hand quickly sketching something on his tablet. It flashes into existence and he takes it in his hand, stepping forward quickly before going down on one knee, holding out a single rose to her. She blinks in surprise then looks up to his face seeing his hopeful eyes.

"But I haven't, please won't you let me explain?"

Lila chews on her lower lip, then she quickly nods "Fine, but it won't mean I'm forgiving you" she slowly accepts the rose.

Evillustrator beams and stands back up straight. "Olivia, it seems was out to get you, she targeted me to get to you, I would never betray you, Lila, she wanted to make it seem like that to hurt you, won't you believe me?"

Lila narrows her eyes as she stares at him in thought. "How do I know you're not lying?"

He takes her free hand in his and presses a kiss against her knuckles "Do I seem like I'm lying?" he glances up at her.

Lila's eyes rounded and she felt her face burn with a sweltering heat "Uh…I dunno…" she removes her hand from his grasp and hugs herself "I just need some time alone…I need to think about this"

Evillustrator nods "Okay, I have some other stuff to do" he turns back heading towards the window.

"Like what?" Lila asks.

He pauses as he sketches something upon his tablet "Oh y'know, some people just need to be taught a few lessons" he glances over his shoulder as a large paper plane appeared hovering just outside the window "I shan't be too long, I'll come back for you soon". He steps onto the plane and flies off.

Lila rushes towards the half-erased window "Wait, so you're just going to leave my window like this!" she calls into the night but he can't hear her. She grumbles "It's flipping freezing in here" she glances out, rubbing her arms. Noticing two pigeons on a windowsill across from hers she glared "Of course there are flipping pigeons, I hate pigeons"

The pigeons glare unblinkingly back.

* * *

Evillustrator landed his plane on the ground, stepping off it vanished in a cloud of dust.

"Now then, where would she be?"

" _Evillustrator, you are to get the miraculous's! I didn't give you powers to mess around"_

He rolled his eyes at Hawkmoths demands "I'm not, Hawkmoth, we need to draw Ladybug and Chat Noir out, don't we?"

"… _Very well, carry on"_

Evillustrator smirked and walked up to an apartment building. If his information was correct the two-faced brat that needed to be taught a lesson would be here. He walked up to the main entrance. It wouldn't do to break-in, he was nothing if not polite.

Marinette woke with a start, blinking her eyes clear she saw Tikki hovering over her clutching her phone. "Marinette, wake up, quickly!"

Marinette sat up straight and stretched, her neck hurt from falling asleep at her desk while she had been doing homework. With the increase of Akuma's the schoolgirl hadn't been getting much sleep.

"What is it?" she yawned and covered her mouth.

"It's an Akuma!" Tikki pushed the phone in her face.

Marinette groaned taking it from the kwami "Not another one" she looked at the phone and her eyes widened "It's Nathanael's akuma! What happened?"

Tikki shrugs "No idea, but we better get down there fast, we have to stop him!"

Marinette nodded "Thank goodness for Alya's blog or we'd never know, though I have no idea how she always knows first…" Marinette tapped her chin.

"Marinette!" Tikki cried.

"Oh, right" she stood up and shouted "Tikki, spot's on!" with a blinding flash of red, Marinette stood clothed in her alter ego's clothes. She rushed to her balcony and using her yoyo took off.

Olivia gasped as she slammed the door shut, leaning against it to catch her breath.

"Olivia!" Evillustrator called, narrowed eyes glancing about the hallway "Won't you come out, we just have to talk"

Olivia pressed her lips together, tears appearing in the corners of her eyes. She yelped as the door started to disappear. She backed away as Evillustrator stepped into the room.

"There you are!" he grinned "Now back to that lesson, right!"

Olivia scrambled away, back hitting against her wardrobe "Just leave me alone!" she cries "I didn't do anything wrong!"

Evillustrator laughs "Either you're a good liar or your just mentally unstable because being a homewrecking bitch is pretty wrong in my book" he twirled his stylus between his fingers and quickly sketched out a turning blade on his tablet.

He made it a reality and sent it straight to Olivia. Olivia squealed and shut her eyes. It was a few meters away from her when it clashed with a silver baton.

Chat Noir stood there, pushing back the blade, sparks flying around the room. "Evillustrator" he growled, "Stop this!"

Evillustrator snarled "Stay out of my way!"

"Not when you're crazy enough to kill someone!" Chat shouted back, feet sliding back as the blade pushed onwards. Just when he felt he couldn't hold it off anymore Ladybug swung in from an open window. Quickly assessing the situation she threw her yoyo again as it twisted around the blade she swung it towards the nearby wall, and just like throwing paint at a wall, it's colours splattered all over it.

Evillustrator clenched his fists "Fine, I see how it is, you always love to protect the true villains!" he exclaimed "I'll just have to get rid of you two first before I can punish them all" he started sketching on his tablet again.

"Quick take the girl and get her to safety" Ladybug says to Chat.

Chat Noir nods "Right Mar-uh M'Lady" he holds out his hand to Olivia "Come on" he smiles gently.

Olivia accepts his outstretched hand and he quickly hurries her away from the situation.

"Nathanael, stop this" Ladybug says "Whatever has happened can be sorted peacefully"

"Shut Up!" he roars. He sends a large punching glove at Ladybug. She gasps as it knocks her out the window. Thinking quickly, she swings her yoyo attaching it a hook along the top of the apartment and allowing her to swing herself onto a large windowsill.

She looks down at the street below, everything tinier from her viewpoint. Squinting her eyes, she can make out Chat coming out of the building with the black-haired girl. Reckoning that Evillustrator would be after them she slowly made her way down the outside of the building to the ground.

Feet firmly on the ground she rushes towards her partner. "Chat!" she calls. He pushes Olivia behind him as he quickly turns around. His body relaxes slightly as he sees it is only Ladybug with no Evillustrator in sight – yet.

"You couldn't have sorted it that fast, could you?" he tilts his head.

"No" she shakes her head "He kinda pushed me out the window"

Chat's eyes widened "He did what!"

"Calm down" Ladybug holds up her hands "He's not himself right now"

Chat nods "I guess"

"Um, are you two just going to stand chatting or are you like going stop that maniac?" Olivia asked, hand on hip.

Ladybug glanced at her "We kind of need to know what happened to make him get akumatised like this first"

Olivia sighed, rolling her eyes "His Girlfriend is a lying bitch, so I put her in her place, that's all"

Chat and Ladybug glanced at each other with matching frowns.

"How exactly?" Chat asked.

"I just made it seem like he was cheating on her with me" Olivia shrugged as she smirked "No big deal"

Chat glared at her "That was a horrible thing to do" he stepped away from the ebony-haired girl. "You don't deserve any protection"

"Chat," Ladybug said warningly "We have to do our job no matter our opinions"

Before he could reply back Evillustrator appeared from the building "Glad you guys waited for me" he smirked "Now the real fun can begin"

Chat Noir instantly got into a fighting position.

"I have an idea," Ladybug says, she presses a hand to Chat's arm "Stay here and keep an eye on him, I'll be back as quick as I can"

"Ladybug what's your idea?"

She rushes off swinging her yoyo to attach it to a flower hook on a nearby roof, she swings over the buildings and away from Chat.

"Ladybug!" he cries. Then sighs slumping his shoulders "She never tells me anything!"

* * *

Ladybug swings through the erased window into Lila's room, landing easily.

"Well that was handy…" she goes quiet when she looks to Lila to see her sitting on her bed, a blanket wrapped around her and the anger on her face.

"Uh, sorry that was rude I can always go back down and use the front door" Ladybug points downwards.

Lila rolled her eyes "I'm not angry with you, I'm angry he fuckin' left my window like that, it's freezing in here!" she growls "I'm slapping him, very _very_ hard next time I see his stupid face!"

Ladybug eyes widen in concern "Well, I'd be very grateful if you waited until he's not akumatised anymore because I kind of need you for my plan"

Lila sighs "What do you want me to do?"

Ladybug smiles "Come on, I'll explain on the way" Lila stands up blanket falling across the bed. "Right. Lila, I need you to put your arms around my neck." Ladybug instructed, turning to face her classmate.

"Why?" Lila asked, looking at the superhero warily.

Ladybug swung her yo-yo next to her hip. "We're leaving in style."

Lila gulped, but then she clenched her fist and nodded her head. "Okay." She put her arms around Ladybug's neck. "But don't get any ideas!"

Ladybugs eyes twinkled in amusement "I wouldn't dream of it" as Ladybug threw her yo-yo and they both flew out of the erased window and through the air. Lila gasped and clutched onto Ladybug tightly.

* * *

Ladybug came to land on the ground in an alleyway near the apartment block, Lila quickly letting go as she placed her feet on solid ground. "I am never doing that again!"

Ladybug chuckled "Hopefully you won't have to" then her expression turns more serious "now are you ready to put the plan in action?"

Lila nods "Yes I'll try my best"

They rushed out from the alleyway to see Chat Noir vs Evillustrator. Olivia hiding behind a nearby car. She scowls when she sees Lila.

"What did you bring her here for?" Olivia snaps. "You're meant to be looking after me!" she practically stamps her foot as she crosses her arms.

Ladybug frowns "Lila's here to see if we can calm him down, isn't that looking after you?" she puts her hands on her hips.

Chat glances over his shoulder as he hears her voice "Took you long enough!" he dodges another set of large punching glove's that crash into a nearby car.

The siren goes off causing everyone to wince. Evillustrator is undeterred as he walks closer "Just give up now and make this easier on yourselves" he says "It's not like we're that different I only want to punish those with black hearts same as you"

Ladybug steps in beside Chat, shoulders touching as they stand as a strong unit. "But what your doing isn't right, yes she may have done a bad thing but punishing her in this way only makes you as bad!"

Evillustrator chuckles "So be it" His stylus taps his tablet once again and then a series of paintball guns appear from thin air surrounding the bug and cat team.

Ladybug blinks in surprise as Chat clenches his fists beside her. Both look at Evillustrator with steely glares.

"One wrong move and they will all go off at once" Evillustrator strolled closer, smirking all the while "It would be quite the painful experience"

Chat tried to use his baton to knock away the guns but Evillustrator tutted and as one gun fired off, staining Chat's shoulder with orange paint his baton became erased with Evillustrator's powers. "That's a warning" he scowled "Now hand over the miraculous'!"

Ladybug and Chat glanced at each other wide eyes not knowing what to do next. Lila watching from the shadows decided it had been long enough, she steps forward into the light "Nathanael stop this!"

He freezes and turns his head, eyebrows raised and eyes wide as he takes in Lila. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to calm you down, you're starting to act like a maniac" she folds her arms, forehead creasing.

His hands fall to his side "You think badly of me" he hangs his head "I'm doing this for both of us" he looks up again gaze locking with Lila's "I'm making her pay for hurting you!" He takes a deep breath and his brows furrow "and to do that I need to put an end to this stupid tag-team!" he starts to sketch once again on his tablet.

Lila sighs "I don't need you to do that" she steps closer cautiously "Just leave them and…we can go somewhere else, just me and you, isn't that what you want?"

He hesitates, stylus hovering over his tablet, then he looks up with wide eyes "You mean it…this isn't some trick?"

"Of course, not" Lila cautiously steps towards him "I could never hurt you, not intentionally" she comes close enough to place a hand on his cheek. "You believe me, right?"

He smiles "of course I do" he puts an arm around her waist pulling her to his side making her gasp a little. He narrows his eyes at Ladybug and Chat Noir "Don't even think of following us"

Lila blinks as suddenly Evillustrator presses a button on his tablet and a jetpack appears on his back. "Hold on tightly to me," he says. Then they are high in the air. Lila yelps and clings tightly to the akumatised boy. "Where are we going?" the wind blowing her hair out behind her. He glances at her with a smile "You'll see" he winks.

They land on top of the Eiffel tower, the lights surrounding them in a warm aura. Lila slowly let's go of Evillustrator and steps back. "The Eiffel tower, huh" she walks to the edge and grips onto the barrier, looking down at the tiny lights of cars and building below "No romantic boat ride for me then" she smirks.

His eyes widen "Did you want one?" he fumbles with his stylus "I didn't really have time to prepare but if you-"

she cuts him off with a laugh "I'm joking, This is fine" she kneels down, then sits down properly eyes looking towards the distance. Quietly Evillustrator came to sit alongside her. They sit in companionable silence for a few minuted before once again Evillustrator starts to sketch on his tablet.

"What are you drawing?" she asks, trying to look over his shoulder.

He shields it from view "It's a surprise" he glances at her.

"A surprise" she tilts her head

He nods his head "It's your birthday so that means you get a present"

Lila giggles "That's not until tomorrow"

"It technically is tomorrow," he says, looking up at the onyx coloured sky, the stars struggling to compete against the bright lights of the city.

Lila looked as well and sighed "Isn't it kind of sad how the stars don't get to be seen, they must feel inadequate competing with the city lights"

Evillustrator grins "Then you'll definitely like my surprise" he puts the finishing touches then presses the button onscreen to make it a reality. He looks to the sky "Watch"

Lila gasps standing up and leaning slightly over the rails to stare at the sky now shining so much brighter as the stars glittered against the darkness "It's wonderful" then she wobbles and gasps.

Evillustrator is quickly by her side, pulling her back towards his chest "Careful" he mutters.

She blushes slightly "Thanks"

"You haven't seen it all though"

"Huh?"

"Look at the sky" he nods, his cheeks staining a darker purple.

She blinks in awe as the stars seemed to twirl on their own and start to form words in the sky. They spell out: I love you, Lila.

Her face flushes as she glances at the stars and back at Evillustrator.

"It's true, no matter what, my feelings for you will always be true" he takes her hand in his "So you forgive me now?"

"I may have overreacted a little" Lila glances to the ground "You're not the type to cheat, I know that…"

"Good" Evillustrator cupped her cheek making her look up at him "Because I don't think I could have lived if you hated me"

"Now you're overreacting" Lila chuckles, hands coming to rest on his shoulders.

He leans up "I'm really not" he whispers.

Neither are sure who made the first move but next thing they know their lips are pressed together, moving perfectly against each other. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words would never be. His hand rested below her ear, his thumb caressing her cheek as their breaths mingled. She ran her fingers down his spine, pulling him closer until there was no space left between them and she could feel the beating of his heart against her chest.

They finally broke apart, both with blushing cheeks and slightly dazed eyes. Lila giggles and ducks her head.

"What?" he tilts his head

She taps her fingers on his chest and looks up at him with mischievous eyes "I just thought that was the first time I've kissed a Supervillain"

He frowns slightly "I'm not really supervillain though" Stroking her cheek he says "I'm just a boy who is hopelessly in love with you"

Lila's eyes rounded "You certainly are bolder in this form" the Italian beauty giggles, her face flushing at his words "Next you'll be writing me a poem!"

"I can!" He exclaims "If you want me to."

Lila's blinks a few times as she looks up to his round ones, sparkling in the night as he looked at her like an excitable puppy dog. She can't help but smile at how adorable he was, even with the mask he was still the Nathanael she loved deep down. She didn't know if she could help Ladybug to stop him.

"Lila?" Evillustrator looked at her in concern.

"Oh, um" she steps away from his grasp much to his confusion "I…I can't do this" she shakes her head.

"Do what?" Evillustrator tries to take her hand but she pulls away.

"Lila!" Ladybug shouts. Coming to land on the Eiffel tower.

"Sorry we took so long," Chat said, baton once again in hand "But I had to retransform to get my baton back" he glares at Evillustrator.

"I told you two to stay away!" Evillustrator growled stepping forward and pushing Lila protectively behind him.

Lila hesitates glancing between Ladybug and Evillustrator. Ladybug looking at her wide eyes wondering what was stopping her.

"You won't hurt him, will you?" she asks.

Evillustrator raises a brow "Hurt who? What are you going on about"

Ladybug smiles ruefully "I promise"

Lila nods and looks to Evillustrator "I'm sorry but this is for your own good" she holds up his stylus pen.

His eyes widen as he looks at her and then down at his empty hand "How did you?" his brow furrows as he looks back at Lila

"You were distracted" she replies, a rueful smile on her face.

He looks at Lila wide-eyed, heartbreak and betrayal written across his features "How could you?" he growled. "You would willingly help Ladybug after all she did to you?"

Ladybug bites on her lip as she looks to Lila warily. Lila sighs "That's in the past if you were truly Nathanael you'd understand that holding hate in your heart isn't good for you" Lila clenches her fists "Isn't that what you taught me?"

"He was wrong and weak!" Evillustrator hisses, walking over to glare up at Lila.

She frowns back "He was neither of those things if anything you're the weak one for siding with Hawkmoth!"

' _Don't listen to her, hurry up and get the miraculous. She is only a blockage in your way!'_

Evillustrator's eyes narrow as he hears Hawkmoth's voice hiss through his mind. Before Lila could even blink, he had grabbed her and twisted her arm around her back in a tight grip. She gasped and tried to break free but it was useless.

"Evillustrator!" Ladybug growled "Leave her alone"

He snatched his stylus back and then pushed her away. She stumbled and almost hit the floor but luckily Chat Noir rushed forward to steady her. She gave him a thankful smile.

Ladybug eyes narrowed "I was going to go easy on you, but if you can treat the girl you supposedly love like that you deserve no kindness"

Evillustrator's fists clenched "She betrayed me, why should I care?"

"She didn't betray you!" Chat Noir says "She's trying to save you, you idiot!"

Evillustrator glances at Lila who looks back with glossy eyes "Nathanael, please it's for your own good" the Italian cries.

"I'm not Nathanael, I am Evillustrator!" he roars then he takes off, heading back after Olivia. Chat Noir quickly takes to following with his baton.

"Wait!" Lila shouts, reaching a hand out after him. She hangs her head when he disappears.

Ladybug places a comforting hand on her shoulder "Don't worry Lila, we'll deal with this now you can head home if you want"

"No!" Lila exclaims turning to face Ladybug "I can't just leave him!" she wipes away the tears with her sleeve "Take me with you, please!"

Ladybug smiles "If you're sure" Lila nods determinedly. "Right then, hold on," Ladybug says as she readies her yoyo. Lila once again Lila places her arms around Ladybugs neck and braces herself for the take-off.

The Superhero duo and Lila arrived back at the apartment complex just in time to hear Olivia's scream. Ladybug and Chat already in protective hero mode took off towards the sound like bolts of light. Leaving Lila standing outside as she sighed. "Looks like I'm taking the stairs"

She rushes inside the building and hurries up the red-carpeted stairs so fast that she almost trips a few times. She is thankful for the wooden bannister that saved her those few times. Just as she is beginning to think she was stuck in an endless loop of a staircase upon staircase she arrives in a landing to see Ladybug and Chat Noir trying to take down Evillustrator. Who at the same time was trying to fend off the heroes while hunting Olivia.

She hangs back at the top of the stairs wondering how she could be of any help. She didn't like being a spectator, feeling useless. She had failed to stop him once before. She shuts her eyes as guilt fills her. She shouldn't have hesitated. Now Nathanael hated her. He thought her a liar…she hangs her head maybe she still was. No matter how hard she tried she would always be the same deep down. She looked up again just to see Ladybug dodge an attack of paper planes.

Narrowing her eyes in determination. She would stop this and then…then she would leave everyone alone, it was for the best.

"Nathanael!" Lila calls, stepping into the light.

He pauses but doesn't look at her. She sighs and steps closer. The heroes pausing as they watched her expectantly.

"Fine, Evillustrator"

He glances over his shoulder.

"Please, Just Leave it" Lila smiles ruefully "She isn't worth it" she directs a wave of her hand to Olivia.

His nose screws up as he frowns "No, I need to make her pay" he looks back down at the terrified Olivia with a scowl.

Lila bites her lip "For me", she blurts out.

"Huh?" he looks at her with a raised brow.

She glances away, cheeks tinted red "Won't you do it for me?"

Evillustrator blinks and his body relaxes as he finally steps away from towering over Olivia "For you…I'd do anything"

Lila smiles "Good, then will you also stop this terrorising of Paris?" she holds out her hand "Don't let Hawkmoth use you, you're better than that"

' _Don't listen to her!'_ Hawkmoth screams in his head

Evillustrator brows crease "You don't control me. I don't want anything to do with you" With that he breaks the stylus himself.

The black butterfly flutters into the air. Ladybug jumps into action swinging her yoyo and catching it before it can getaway.

As the magic swirls over Paris fixing everything, the Akuma form of Evillustrator fades away, with a confused Nathanael in his place. He glances around with a furrowed brow then spots Lila standing away from him, her arms crossed.

He stands up and cautiously walks towards her "Lila" he starts.

She glances away "I don't want to talk about it"

"But you know she's the liar, I didn't-I wouldn't cheat on you," he says.

Lila sighs and turns from him "Yes…But I don't-" she shuts her eyes, hands falling to her sides clutched tightly, "I said I don't want to talk about it so just leave me alone!" she growls and quickly walks away from the scene.

Nathanael watches her walk away with a pained expression, a hand gently touches his shoulder. He glances to see Chat Noir giving him a rueful smile "She'll come around, she's just stubborn"

Nathanael hung his head "That's an understatement, she'll never speak to me again"

"Don't be so sure of that" Ladybug says "She was very worried about you"

"Really?" his eyes brighten.

She laughs, then her earring beep eyes widening she places her hands over them "I better go, bye!" swinging her yoyo, she jumps out the wide window at the end of the hall. she disappears into the distance over the Parisian buildings.

"Ladybug tells the truth, Lila was very worried about you, didn't even want us hurting you" Chat beams "She still loves you, she just doesn't want to seem soft"

Nathanael nods "Thank's Chat" then he nods to the ring on Chat's finger "You better get going unless you feel like revealing your identity"

Chat's eyes widened as he glances at the flashing ring "Oh, bye!" he rushes away leaving Nathanael to walk home in the night with a determined expression. No matter what he wasn't giving up on his and Lila's love.

* * *

 **Next Time on Your Lies are Art: It's Lila's birthday party but neither she or Nathanael feel much like celebrating, with both as stubborn as the other is there any hope of them getting back together?**


	13. Begin Again

Nathanael woke to his phone ringing. Rubbing his bleary eyes, he grabbed it from his locker and sighed when he saw it was Rose calling. Still he answered it not wanting to be rude.

"Nathanael!" her voice exclaimed over the phone "Where are you? We're trying to set up Lila's birthday party, but we can't do it without you"

Nathanael's expression became downcast "Rose, I don't think that's a good idea…"

"What do you mean?" The blonde yelled over the phone "We've bought everything now, Marinette even made a Caramel whipped cream chocolate cake! We can't just throw out a Cake, Nathanael!"

Nathanael winced and held the phone away from his ear "Okay, Okay, have the party but it might be best if I'm not there"

"No, you will come this second or I swear to unicorns I will personally come to your home and drag you here!" Rose hisses "Do you want make me angry?"

Nathanael paled thinking of an angry Rose. It was a very rare occurrence and the stuff of nightmares. "Right, give me an hour or so I need to get changed…"

"Good" Rose says, voice cheery again "If you're not here in a few hours though I will get angry"

"Yes, I get it" he rolls his eyes "Bye" he ends the call before she can say anything more.

Arriving at the River Seine, Nathanael slowly wandered to the quay where a few houseboats were docked along. He made his way up the ramp of the barge. Seeing his classmates rush around putting up decorations and placing out food and drink on a long table.

"Nath!" Rose waves, running up to him.

He manages a small smile back "Hi" he clutches the birthday comic to his chest. Rose tilts her head "Is everything okay?"

Alix comes to stand beside him, patting him on the arm "If you're worried about being judged because you got akumatised again there's no need to be"

"Yeah" Juleka smiles as she comes to stand alongside Rose.

"It's not that" He sighs "It's just that me and Lila we're…well, we're kind of…broken up"

His friends gasp.

"What!" Rose exclaims.

"How?" Alix raises an eyebrow.

His eyes narrow "Some girl that hates Lila made it out to be that I was cheating on Lila with her, I obviously wasn't but Lila was hurt and didn't want to speak to me so that's how I got akumatised"

"But she knows that this girl is the liar, right?" Alix says, fists tight at her sides "You would never cheat on her, you're too nice for that" Alix frowns.

"Yeah, I think she knows not to trust Olivia" he shrugs "But she still seems annoyed with me…"

"What's wrong?" Marinette asks. Luka walking up behind her.

Juleka shakes her head "Lila and Nathanael have had a falling out so they're kind of broken up but in a way where neither are sure if they are"

Marinette nods "Got it" she clutches her hands together "So is the party still going ahead?"

"Of course, it is" Nathanael smiles "You've all worked so hard, thank you"

"Lila's our friend too" Rose grins.

The group nods in agreement. "So, who's going to go get her?" Alix asks "Nathanael?"

"She won't want to see me" Nathanael hangs his head "Rose should go" The classmates look around each other with concerned expressions. Not knowing what to say to cheer the boy up.

"Don't worry Nath" Luka places a hand on the boy's shoulder "Once she sees all the planning that went into this party everything will be back to normal"

The group all nod. "Yeah!" Rose beams "I'll go get her and this whole situation will be fixed like that" she runs off the boat and back onto solid ground.

* * *

Lila wasn't in a good mood as she curled up on the sofa, mindlessly scrolling through her phone. It was her birthday, but she didn't really feel much like celebrating. She heard a knock at the door, her eyes widened. Biting her lip she stood and walked out to see who it was.

Lila cautiously opened the door, half-expecting it to be Nathanael. She didn't know why she felt her heart drop when she saw a cheery Rose standing on the doorstep instead of the red-haired boy.

"Oh, Hello Rose" Lila says, shifting on her feet.

"Happy birthday!" Rose grins.

Lila smiled "Thank you but there's not much to be happy about…" she sighs.

Rose's eyes widen "You can't be so down, not on your birthday!" she grins "Come on, I know just the thing to cure your sadness" she pulls Lila down the steps.

"Wait, Rose!" Lila exclaims "I don't really feel like going anywhere…you should just forget about me" she tries to shut the door but rose puts her foot forward stopping it from closing.

"Oww," the blonde softly cries.

Lila opens the door again and tilts her head "You okay?"

"No" Rose shakes her head "It makes me sad to think of my friend hiding in her house on her birthday" she grabs Lila's hand "So COME ON!" she tries pulling Lila out of the house but the Italian holds her ground.

"Rose!" she complains "I can't just leave without locking up the house!"

"Oh," Rose sheepishly smiles, letting go of Lila's hand. Lila manages a small laugh as heads back up the steps and into the house, grabbing the keys from the sideboard she heads back out locking up the house.

"Okay, let's go," she says pocketing the keys. "If we must"

"Yes, we must" Rose smiles and skips ahead. "Oh, Lila" she slows down glancing at the girl behind her "Doesn't your mum or dad want to celebrate your birthday"

Lila ruefully smiles "They've probably forgotten about it" she shrugs "It's fine, they live busy lives so can't be helped"

Rose blinks "Oh…" she looks away not knowing what to say.

Lila sensing the awkwardness tries to change the subject "So where exactly are we going?"

"Juleka's houseboat" Rose replies.

"It'll just be us three, right?" Lila frowns "I'm not in the mood to see anyone else"

"Of course," Rose lies.

Lila smiles "Good"

"Surprise!" the classmates cheer as Lila steps onto the barge. She blinks in shock looking around at the decorations and party food. Throwing Rose, a soft glare "So much for only being the three of us"

Rose giggles and claps "I knew you'd love it"

Lila smiles.

Suddenly everyone is surrounding her wishing her happy birthday and pushing gifts at her. She laughs, a happy glow appearing on her cheeks and in her eyes. Was this how it felt to be wanted, to be included. It felt nice. She feels like shaking her head at the past her, who had thought to lie would help her achieve this. It turns out she had just needed to stop lying.

Nathanael hovers in the background, unsure whether to give Lila his present himself or just leave it on the table where all the other gifts were piling up. He bows his head, Lila would probably rip up his gift she was that angry with him.

He jumps slightly when he feels a hand on his shoulder, he looks blinking to see Marinette smiling at him. "There's no point hiding away here"

"I know" he glances at Lila who is giggling at something Rose had said, a slight smile appearing on his face "But she's happy, I would only ruin that"

Marinette raises a brow "Trust me, she would be more happy to see you" she places her hands on her hips "This party was your idea wasn't it, so make sure she knows" Before he can get a chance to make up another excuse Marinette pushes him forward so that he stumbles in front of a wide-eyed Lila.

She goes quiet, as does the rest of the party goers. Nathanael is sure that even Nature itself had ground to a halt as an agonising silence stretches over them. His cheeks colouring redder than his namesake hair.

He clutches the comic to his chest as Lila slowly raises a brow. Gulping slightly, he quickly holds out to the comic bowing his head to hide his blushing face "Here!" he exclaims.

He can practically feel Marinette and probably rose too, slapping their foreheads in exasperation. He feels like doing it too. But of course, had to be awkward.

Lila glances at Rose who smiles widely and nods her head. Effecting a soft sigh, she slowly takes the comic from Nathanael "Uh what's this about?"

"It's your birthday!" Nathanael quickly glances up with wide eyes.

Lila's brow creases "Yeah?"

"I mean" he chuckles sheepishly as he rubs the back of his neck "It's your birthday present from me…and kinda marc because he helped with the storyline…uh" he falters off as he stares back at Lila's blank face.

She looks down at it, her eyes widening slightly at the cover "It's Volpina as a hero…"

"Yes, if you don't like it, it's okay" he wrings his hands together "It was a silly idea-"

"No" Lila softly smiles at him "Thank you, it's a lovely present"

Once again, an uneasy silence stretches over them as they stare at each other unsure what to say or do. Fortunately, they are saved by Marinette. Who rushes forward with her gift.

"Lila, Happy birthday" she holds up her wrapped gift "I made it myself, so I hope you like it" she smiles.

Lila smiles gratefully as she places Nathanael's comic on the table beside her and accepts Marinette's gift "Can I open it now?"

"Of course" Marinette nods.

Lila grins as she tears away the paper like a ravenous dog. Marinette blinks slightly at this.

As the noise comes back to life and everyone removes their attention from Lila, Nathanael fades into the background, head bowed in sadness. She may have been polite, but he knew she hadn't wanted to see him. He was silly to think that anything would have changed. He had lost her, he had to accept that.

"Wow, Marinette it's so cute!" Lila gushes as she holds up the fox-faced shoulder bag. "Imagine in years to come this will be worth millions because it was created by the biggest Parisian designer!"

Marinette giggles "I wouldn't go that far"

"No, you're destined for greatness Marinette" Rose chirps.

Blushing Marinette says her thanks then glances to where Nathanael had stood and when she noticed he had disappeared she quickly looks around until she spots him hiding in the crowd. She frowns.

"Hey, Lila" she starts.

"Yeah?"

"You know this party wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Nathanael"

Lila freezes, smile slipping as she clutches the fox themed gift to her chest "What are you trying to say?" she avoids eye contact as Marinette's expression turns serious.

"While we may be friends, Lila don't forget Nathanael is my friend too and I don't like seeing him hurt!"

"Marinette!" Rose hisses.

"No" Marinette barks, glaring at Rose before turning her attention back to Lila "She needs to hear this, it isn't all about her" hands on hips, the midnight-blue haired girl frowns at the Italian "There is no need to punish him for something that didn't even happen!"

Lila's nose wrinkled as her forehead creased "You weren't there, Marinette" she looks up eyes flickering with a wave of sad anger "So just leave it"

Marinette pauses unsure what to say next. She can hardly say she was there or else she would lead to them knowing her identity as Paris's spotted hero. Sighing she bows her head "Fine…"

Then Rose grips her arm and pulls her away from the Italian "Don't worry about it, give it time and if they can't work it out themselves me and Juleka will help them" her eyes twinkle mischievously as she whispers this.

Marinette smiles "With you on the case I'm sure they'll be back together in no time"

Rose nods and laughs.

A few hours later the party was in full swing and Rose who had eaten 2 slices of birthday cake, drank far too much cola and to top it all off eaten more or less a full bowl of sweets.

Took to climbing on top of a table, much to Juleka's feigned exasperation and shouting:

"We need music!" Rose throws her arms in the air as she stands on top of the table "Juleka get your brother!"

Lila hides her laughter behind her hand as she glances at Juleka who isn't a bit fazed at Overhyped Rose. "Jules, why is Rose acting drunk I thought there wasn't any alcohol"

"There isn't" Juleka smiles "She just gets like this once she has consumed too much sugar"

Lila laughs "Then I dread to think what she would be like after a few drinks"

"So do I" Juleka raises her eyebrows "I'll deal with Rose if you go get my brother"

Lila nods "Will do" she turns and heads towards the arched door of the boathouse when she feels someone step beside her. She glances to see Nathanael who smiles hopefully at her.

She ignores the feeling of her heart speeding up to gruffly say "Can I help you?"

It pains her a little to see the happy light of his eyes fade a little "No, I just-I just thought I could help you"

"How?"

"I can go get Luka, I mean I know better where his room is and this is your party you should enjoy it" he steps in front of her causing her to halt before she crashes into him.

She frowns "I'm sure I can manage" out of the corner of her eye she sees Marc hiding in a corner, hood pulled up as he scribbles in his notebook.

Nathanael nods "Of course, I just…" he sighs "Never mind" He is about to walk past her when he hears Lila

"Marc, can you go get Luka?" Lila asks.

Marc blinks, breaking from his thoughts to look up at Lila "Oh-" his face colours a bit.

Nathanael starts "Don't be silly I'll-"

Lila quickly elbows him in the side shooting him a quick glare. He rubs his side in pain and glares back.

"No, No" she shakes her head then looks back at Marc with a smile "You should go do it as we need Nathanael to help Max with all the wires and stuff" Nathanael raises an eyebrow at that but keeps quiet he doesn't want to be elbowed again.

Marc nods "O-Okay, I'll go um down here" he points down the boat corridor. Nathanael nods "Yeah his room is the one at the end of the hall" Marc bites on his lower lip then hurries on down the hall.

"Now speak!" Nathanael points an accusing finger at Lila "What are you up to?"

Lila puts on an innocent smile "I'm not up to anything, Nathanael, what gave you that idea?" she says then begins to walk on out to the main deck.

He frowns "I know you Lila!" he follows "and you're up to something"

"You mean you like to think you know me" she glances over her shoulder narrowed eyes with a sly smirk "Even if I was up to something I don't see how it concerns you" she hurries out to help Rose set up the stage leaving a wide-eyed and upset Nathanael behind

'The room at the end of the hall, Right, just have to go to the room at the end of the hall and get Luka and then done easy right?' Marc thinks to himself. His face says otherwise he had gone as white as a ghost and was very nervous. He found it hard enough to talk to people he barely knew but when they were hot it just made it even harder! He finally reached the room and walked through the archway.

"Let me guess they want me up on the main deck now"

Marc jumps then looks to the side to see Luka tuning his guitar while sitting cross-legged on his bed. Marc blinks his face flushing. He hadn't noticed him sitting there.

Luka glances at him his eyes widening "Oh hey…" he trails off with a sheepish smile "Sorry I forgot your name"

Marc lowers his head. 'Of course, he forgets me, I'm probably a nobody to someone as cool as him' he gulps "I'm Ma-Ma-Marc" he stutters. "They wa-want y-you up on t-the deck…" Marc glances up at Luka before looking away again.

Luka smirks "Hello, Ma-Ma-Marc"

Marc's face blushes redder than Nathanael's hair and he looks down while pulling on the strings of his jacket tightening his hood so Luka can't see his blushing face "I-I just Came to tell you that, bye" he turns to run off.

Luka's eyes widened "Wait! I'm sorry for teasing you" Marc stops glancing around at Luka who offers an apologetic smile. "I'm not that good with words I prefer to speak through my music so" he pats the spare space on his bed inviting Marc to sit down.

Marc hesitantly walks over and sits on the edge of the bed. A hot blush on his face. Luka smiles and starts to strum the chords of his guitar. Marc's eyes widen as he feels a calming effect wash over him. Luka plays a few more notes that make Marc's heart ba-dump in his chest. Luka then looks up from the guitar with a smile.

"That was amazing! How-how do you do that?" Marc blushes.

Luka shrugs "Just comes to me I guess" he glances down at Notebook Marc is holding "You're always carrying that around" he nods to the notebook "You a writer or something?"

Marc holds his notebook tight to his chest "I, ah, try to be" he lowers his gaze from Luka's bright eyes.

Luka laughs "I guess we're kinda opposites what with words coming easily to you"

"What?" Marc looks up with rounded eyes "Oh no, I wouldn't say words come easy I mean I can only express myself through writing I'm useless at talking"

"I find that those who talk a lot minds are emptier than those who think but don't talk" Luka chuckles "Sorry I'm probably not making any sense"

"No, I totally understand what you mean" Marc grins.

"Hey, I have an idea" Luka says "seeing as you're so good at writing why don't we make a song together? I've tried to write lyrics to go along with the random music I play but I'm awful at that stuff but I'm sure you'll be able to do it!" Luka looks at him with bright eyes.

Marc's face flushes "Oh, W-Well…I can try" he smiles shyly.

Luka stands up putting the guitar strap around himself "Great! I can't wait to hang out more with you, you're quite interesting" he smiles and heads out leaving a blushing Marc behind.

'Interesting…is that good or bad? Whatever I get to hang out with Luka more that's good!' Marc quickly stands up and heads out of the room too.

Rose watched with a frown as Lila avoided Nathanael at every turn and he became more upset with every avoidance. She didn't like her two friends being unhappy like this, especially for no reason at all. If they weren't going to do anything then she knew she had to!

Grabbing Juleka by the arm, she pulls her to a quiet corner. "We need to do something!" she exclaims, throwing her arms in the air.

"About Lila and Nathanael" Juleka nods and glances over her shoulder where she can see Lila standing alone staring at the comic with glossy eyes. "She still loves him, is just too scared to admit it for some reason"

"Right, so plans now!" Rose clenches her fists "We could do the obvious and trap them somewhere to talk properly"

Juleka sighs "It's our best choice" she takes Rose's hand giving it a reassuring squeeze "You can use my room, hopefully, they don't wreck it though"

Rose laughs "I don't think it'll come to that"

"I'll go get Nathanael then," Juleka says with a smile. She starts to walk off.

"Wait, why am I left with Lila?" Rose asks, an adorable whine to her voice.

Juleka glances over her shoulder "Because it's your idea" she chuckles.

"Lila!" Rose rushed towards her "You've got to come quick!" she grabbed on Lila's arm trying to pull her away.

"What's wrong?" Lila asks, wide-eyed. Keeping her feet firmly on the ground, not letting Rose pull her in the direction of the corridor.

Rose paused "Uh, it's Nathanael!"

"Nathanael?" Lila raised an eyebrow "That doesn't concern me anymore" she says, but worry can be seen in her eyes.

"But…He'll be akumatised if you don't come or-Or Worse!" Rose wails.

Lila bites her lip "Worse?" she mutters, face paling "…okay, where is he?"

"This way quickly!" Rose runs off down the corridor. Lila quickly follows. They come to stop outside Juleka's room and Rose opens the door "I Lied, sorry" Rose smirked. She Pushed Lila into Juleka's bedroom and quickly shut the door.

Lila looked with wide eyes at the door and then at the anxious Nathanael who was waiting in the room and shifting on his feet.

"What's going on?" Lila growled. She narrowed her eyes at the red-haired boy.

He gave a half shrug "I don't really know either…" he trailed off as he continued to look at her with large puppy-like eyes.

Lila frowned. She didn't like it; she was meant to be feeling angry at Nathanael, but he was looking at her with that cute hopeless look that made her heart waver.

"You have some nerve" she hissed "Standing there with-With those sparkly eyes and your cute floppy hair!"

Nathanael raised an eyebrow a smirk appearing on his face "You think there's something wrong with my eyes?" he stepped closer to her.

Lila had to force herself to glare "Yeah, they're too sparkly and just annoying!"

Nathanael had to bite on his lower lip to stop himself laughing. "They're annoying you?" he looked up at her.

Lila was looking down at him "I just said they were, everything about you is bothering me" Lila realized how close they were and had to fight off a blush. "I feel nothing for you" she turned her head.

This would have hurt Nathanael if he didn't know Lila as well as he did. As much as she tried to lie, she could never make her eyes keep up the lie, the truth was always reflected in them.

"Nothing, huh" He said with a teasing smile.

Lila didn't like how she was unable to fool Nathanael. He could always see right through her. "Nothing…" she muttered. Hesitantly turning her head to look at him.

Nathanael's eyes were narrowed as he looked up at her but there was a bright blush on his cheeks. She felt a rush of affection - he always wore his feelings on his sleeve. He couldn't help it.

Lila couldn't resist him anymore as she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss, feeling the warmth on his cheeks. He moved to hold her waist steadying them as they stumbled back into a wall. Lila pulled back a moment later and giggled when she saw the dazed happy look on his face.

He blinked "So does this mean-does it mean we're still together?" His eyes glimmered with hope, but he nibbled on his bottom lip due to nervousness.

Lila glanced away looking out the window "I don't know…" she sighed and looked back at Nathanael. "I know I was wrong for believing her lies and I'm not perfect myself but…" she sighed.

"But what?" Nathanael asks, "You know I love you; I would never hurt you…not intentionally anyway" His hand moves to brush Lila's cheek gently. His voice grows quiet "So nothing is stopping us, right?"

Lila's eyes flickered with conflict "I know that…it's just how I do not know you'll not regret being with me" she avoided looking directly at him while biting on her lower lip "Like I said I'm not perfect"

Nathanael's laugh shocks Lila into looking at him, her brow furrows a bit until he speaks again. "That's what you've been worried about?" his eyes crease as he smiles "I know you're not perfect, no one ever is Lila, but I love you even with your faults" His hand cradles her cheek, all calloused palms and gentle fingertips. "I'm not the one running away and I never will be"

He leans in and when their lips touch, Lila knows there isn't going to be any more running – not unless they're holding hands.

* * *

 **So we've come to the end of the sequel, yes it was short but I still hoped you liked it and if you somehow like my writing (thank you) then you'll be happy to know I'm going to start working on third here's a short summary:**

 **Your Lie's are Art 3: After all, they've been through Lila and Nathanael certainly deserve a holiday, they head to Italy to visit Lila's family and take in the sights but of course no matter where they go trouble follows them…**


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